Harry's Neighbor
by The Frog
Summary: Tem is Harry's next-door-neighbor at Number 5, Privet Drive. He is also Hogwart's newest first year. Set in Harry's 5th year, Voldemort is newly risen and after the boy who lived. So why is Tem being attacked? Part 12 up!!!!!
1. Prologue-The Boy Next Door

Harry's Neighbor Paul S. Pocock Normal Paul S. Pocock 2 0 2001-11-04T01:57:00Z 2001-11-04T01:57:00Z 1 663 3784 31 7 4647 9.2720 1 

A/N:  Please excuse the random slashes in the middle of some of my words.  I did not put them there and have tried everything to get them off.  (I'm probably not supposed to be doing this, but…) for a really good website where you can see this story posted with all of the formatting it's supposed to have (and a HP website that really doesn't suck in the least) go to www.sugarquill.com.  Thanks!  Enjoy!  Review!!!

Harry's Neighbor-Prologue 

            The Patterson house was one of many just like it.  It sat in a long row of normal houses, all of which had the grass and hedges cut to the same length.  Everything about it was neat, clean, and most importantly, _normal_, right down to the white picket fence.  Tem sat alone in his room, at the top of the stairs of Number 5, Privet Drive, the most normal, and most boring street on Earth.

            Tem had just turned eleven years old last April, and everybody said that he had a great imagination.  He really did, just not in the way everybody thought he did.  Most of the stuff he said was true.  He just happened to see strange things, and strange things just had a way of happening to him, like the time three years ago, when he had sworn that a car had flown up to his neighbor's window, picked up that boy that lived in the Dursleys' house, and flown away.  When he had told his parents this, they'd just laughed, rubbed his head, and jokingly said that he'd be a great writer someday.  

            This wasn't a lie.  Tem _was_ a great writer, and he wrote every chance he got; these were mainly journals about his everyday life.  He filled books with pages and pages of stories about things like the time he was mad about not being picked for the football team, and the ball had sprouted wings and flown away.  Another time, he had been really upset that his fat next door neighbor, Dudley, had run over his toys while riding his bike and then, all of the sudden, the racing bike seemed to swerve into the street of its own accord, right in front of an on-coming truck.  The truck had barely missed him, and he ended up hitting old Mrs. Figg instead.  Things like this happened every now and then, and he always wrote everything down.  People who read his stories always commented on his creativity, and this made Tem angry.  They were calling him a liar.  Tem never lied to people; he only wrote what he saw.  

            On this particularly dreary day in July, Tem was already bored out of his mind.  School had just let out for summer holiday and there was nothing to do.  He idly wondered what the kid next door was doing.  Not Dudley, the one who beat him up every now and then, but the other one.  Tem had never met him, and Mr. and Mrs. Dursley seemed quite content to keep it that way.  They tried to pretend that the other kid didn't exist, but it was hard to miss the owls flying in and out of the kid's room at night, especially during the summer.  Tem really wanted to meet this kid.  Anybody with owls as pets had to be more interesting than the stupid kids at his school.  He walked up to his window and looked into the one adjacent to his…that was the kid's room.  

            As he squinted into the glass, he could just make out a figure:  tallish, thin without being skinny, messy hair, and glasses.  Tem figured that the kid was a few years older than himself.  He was fourteen, maybe fifteen at the most.  Tem watched in astonishment as the boy opened the door of a cage and fed something to a beautiful snowy white owl that Tem had seen flying in and out of that window before.  This was the first time he had seen it in a cage, however.  Tem had to wonder how it was treated.  Wild animals didn't usually domesticate well.  The boy stroked the owl, talking to it, and then put it back, closing the cage.  He walked across the room and bent down out of view.  When the he stood back up, he held a broom.  It was a nice looking broom as far as Tem was concerned.  Who would want to sweep with it, though?

            Suddenly, Tem's heart leapt into his throat as he realized that the boy was not only _not_ sweeping with it, but he was flying on it!  Tem's fingers itched towards his dressing stand where his journal and pen lay, but his eyes stayed glued to the window. 

            The loud jangle of the doorbell jolted Tem from his trance-like state, and when he went back to the window, the boy's shades had been drawn closed.  He sighed and ventured downstairs to see who had come to visit.

            His mother, looking up upon his arrival, smiled sweetly.  "Tem, honey, that was the postman.  You seem to have gotten a letter."


	2. Part 1-Tem's Mum

Thanks everybody for reviewing on the prologue

Harry's Neighbor-Part 1

** **

Harry drew the shade down with a sharp *snap*.That little Muggle kid had been spying on him again.He had to be more careful when he got his Firebolt out.Flying in the Muggle world was technically magic, but how was he expected to keep his Quidditch skills up if he was locked in this cell day and night?*Not that it matters anymore, really,* he thought bitterly.*The ministry doesn't have time for trifles like misused magic, now that the war has started all because of me.*But still, he didn't want to be expelled before the new school year even began.Harry sighed."Well, Hedwig," he spoke to the owl."I guess the window's not going up again for a few days."He put the Firebolt back under the loose floorboards and grabbed a quill and some parchment.He decided to start on his Charms homework while he was bored enough to concentrate on it, and to keep the harrowing images of last school year out of his mind.Dreams, day and night, had been visiting him on a regular basis now.Cedric's death and Voldemort's resurrection played themselves over and over in his head.Most of Harry's holiday homework had been completed the first week, and now he found himself re-reading his textbooks from the first year and up (saving Lockhart's books for a desperate last resort) just to take his mind off the pain.

Signs of war had been popping up everywhere in the wizarding world; the Dark Mark was seen more and more often.Harry frantically gathered news from the Weasely family, the only people he could trust for the truth.For a time, he had found himself buying up the _Daily Prophet_ and ingesting the news as fast as possible, until he found Rita Skeeter's name under most of the articles.He felt he couldn't trust anything in there anymore.News from his godfather had been harder to come by.Every now and then, he received a letter from Sirius, but it was always from a strange bird, and seldom containing more news than the fact that he was alive and safe.For right now, Harry found he could live with this.He still lived in hope that, after all this was over, he would live with his godfather the way he really wanted: open, free, and without the hatred and mistrust of the rest of the wizarding world.Until then, he was stuck with the Dursleys and the nightmares that might forever plague him.

Harry had barely touched quill to paper when he heard the familiar tap and flutter of an owl outside his window.He quickly opened it, let the bird in and shut it again, checking quickly to make sure the kid wasn't still watching him.Then he turned to the owl.It was very large, brown, and held a letter in its beak.Harry relieved it of its burden then guided it to Hedwig's cage where it could find water and rest.

Harry then turned to the letter.He had originally hoped it was a reply to the letter he had written Sirius the previous week, but the familiar parchment with its emerald green ink and his address made him realize that it was just the usual letter and booklist from school.This seemed a little odd, though, especially since the letter usually came on his birthday, which was more than three weeks in the future.Harry tore the envelope open, only glancing at the letter of welcome and well wishes, as it was the same one from last year.He read through his book list, which he wasn't quite happy with, as the advanced titles only further reminded him of the impending O.W.L.S. and studying to come.It was then that he noticed a third sheet of paper.His eyes widened as they met the same loopy handwriting that had accompanied his invisibility cloak in his first year.It was a personal letter from Dumbledore.

************************************************************************

Tem read through the letter for what had to be the fifth time before calling to his mum, who had gone into the kitchen.His mind raced with a hundred questions and uncertainties.Him?A wizard??This couldn't be right.It had to be a mistake.Or a joke.That was it.Dudley had sent him this letter as a practical joke.But he wasn't smart enough to compose a letter this well thought-out.It contained words much too big for him, such as "It" and "The".

.Tem, not knowing what to make of it, mutely handed his mother the letter when she walked in. There was silence as she scanned the letter once, and then, more carefully this time, reading it over again."I don't believe it," she whispered."I didn't think that there was a history of magic in any of our family!"She had Tem's attention now."Honey, I'm so very proud of you!This is a very difficult school to get into!"She hugged Tem, her eyes shining with yet unshed tears.

"I-I don't understand," he said, finally."I mean, this is a joke, right?Magic doesn't really exist, does it?"His mother shook her head, and sat down next to him, primly crossing her legs and staring down at her hands, which were clasped fervently in her lap.

"Let me tell you a story," she said, looking up at him."There once was a time when I was little; about your age, I guess.I had a friend, my very best friend in the whole world, named Becca.Well, her full name was Rebecca Susan Bones, but we always called her Becca; mostly because she hated it so much.We grew up together in the same town, and were best friends forever.We were due to start the sixth grade together and St. Catherine's, and had even gotten the same class again, when her parents sent her to this mysterious boarding school that nobody would ever talk about.She appeared for Christmas and summer holidays, and we would bond like we always had before, but whenever I tried to talk to her about her school, she would change the subject.

"Then, one day when we were fourteen, I walked into her kitchen while she was drinking tea and startled her.She dropped the teacup and it shattered into a million pieces on the floor.She cried and cried because they were her mother's very favorite cups and she would kill her if she found out.Finally, when Becca thought I wasn't looking, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a long piece of wood, and with a single word, reassembled the teacup.Of course, I immediately confronted her with it, and she told me all about where she was going to school:Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.I had thousands of questions, and she had all the answers, and seemed very grateful to be able to finally tell somebody.

"She told me all about life as a witch, and of the Great War that was going on in her world.An evil wizard had gained lots of power and followers.He was so terrifying that few dared even to utter his name.They just called him You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.Becca grew up among all of this, and we stayed close friends, even when she graduated Hogwarts, became a noted Aurress (a magical law-enforcer.She fought in the war), and had her first child, Susan.The year after Susan was born, the evil wizard was somehow defeated, and we were relieved that the war was over so that she would be safe.That was not to be."His mother broke off for a second, shaking her head sadly."During the rebuilding period, when many of the Death Eaters (You-Know-Who's followers) were being rounded up for trial and prison, there was an uprising of his followers, and several aurors were killed.Becca was one of them."She sniffed."I loved her and miss her very much."She wiped her eyes and looked strong again."But that is off my main subject.Yes, magic is real.Yes, this letter is real.And yes, I will be telling Stonewell High that you will not be attending this year.Here," she pushed the first letter, what looked like a list, and another letter into his hands."These will tell you what you need to know, I believe.Excuse me.I need to go freshen up a bit."

Tem's mother left without seeing his reaction, without hearing what he had to say, and without caring whether or not he noticed her crying.He felt numb.There was no other way to describe it.All of the confusion, the emotion of his mother's story, the sudden and drastic change that had just taken place in his life, welled up inside of him, and instead of bursting out, it hid itself until there was almost nothing but a gaping void left to fill.Instead of trying to fill it, he looked at the second letter.Maybe that would help him gain some perspective.It was written in green ink also, with large, loopy, scrawling letters.He read:

Dear Mr. Templeton Patterson,

I would like to welcome you myself to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.As you come from a family of Muggles (what we call non-magical people), I realize that it will be hard to adjust to the magical lifestyle.You have the great privilege of living next door to one of our fifth-year students, Harry Potter.Not only is Harry one of our top students, but also one of the most naturally gifted that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.But I ramble.I have asked Harry to help you adjust to the wizarding world.He should contact you, if not tonight, then within the next couple of days.I warn you NOT to try to contact him, as those Muggles he lives with are very adamantly positioned against magic.I wish you good luck, and look forward to meeting you when the term starts.

Sincerely Yours,

Professor Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Everything in Tem's head was spinning.It all made sense, but it didn't…his mom, her friend, the broomstick, the boy next door, the owls.But how could it all be real?It didn't seem possible.His mom called for dinner, still sniffling, but Tem went upstairs, claiming he wasn't hungry.Every now and then, he peeped curiously through his blinds to the window across from his, but Harry's shades remained closed.Tem wondered once again what the kid next door, who now had a name, was doing at that moment.

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"HE WANTS ME TO WHAT?!?"Harry's shrill yelp rang through the halls of the Dursleys' house.

"Pipe down up there!" called Uncle Vernon from down the stairs.He tossed another "Or else" over his shoulder for good measure. 

"Sorry," replied Harry, who was absently staring out the window.


	3. Part 2-Diagon Alley

Later that night, (or more accurately, early the next morning) Tem was awakened by a tapping at his window.Still mostly asleep, he padded over and opened the shade.He was shocked fully awake at the sight of the giant snowy owl that he had seen in Harry's bedroom perched on his sill.It held a letter in its beak.It looked almost intimidating with those large, intelligent golden eyes sizing him up.It gave an exasperated hoot, and Tem took this as a signal to take the letter.The owl waited patiently, possibly for an answer.

Tem opened the letter, noting that it was written on what looked like old-time parchment.Spidery handwriting was scribbled across the page.It read:

Dear Templeton,{Tem shuddered at the use of his real name}

My name is Harry Potter.I just turned 15 years old and will be going to Hogwarts for my fifth year next term.While I've lived next to you for almost as long as I can remember, I'm pretty sure we've never met.I'd like to meet you and get to know you better, but the Dursleys won't even let me out of my room this summer.It's comforting to know that there's someone else like me around, though.*Yeah, no kidding, * Tem thought.Aunt Petunia is going to the market tomorrow.If you want to, you can come over when she leaves.(I'd come over there, but if I'm not in the house when she comes back, she'll kill me.And so would Uncle Vernon when he came home.)I'll send Hedwig (my owl) over when it's safe for you to come.I can't wait to meet you, but until then I'd better go.

-Harry

Tem went back to his bed and read the letter over again.He was now wide-awake with no possibility of going back to sleep.Almost without thinking, he flipped the parchment over and wrote a short message back.

Harry-

That sounds great.Let me know when a good time to come over would be-I'm free all day.By the way, call me Tem.I hate Templeton.

-Tem

Tem held out the folded parchment, and the owl picked it up primly in its beak and fluttered off across the path.Tem saw a hand reach out and quickly pull the owl in through Harry's window before disappearing again.He then sighed: it seemed that nothing could surprise him anymore, and picked up his journal, which still lay open on his bed where he had fallen asleep writing the day's events.There had been more than usual today.He picked up his pen and began to write again:

Dear Journal,(like you haven't gotten enough of me already today)

I just got a letter from Harry.He seems like a really cool kid, but it's just weird.He sent it by owl.I don't know.This whole 'wizard' thing is still so new.It's like there's this voice at the back of my head saying, "It's not right, it's all a joke.A dream.A figment of your imagination.This will all be over when you wake up."And I keep waiting to wake up, but the dream just doesn't end.I don't know if I want it to.

I really don't know what to expect when I visit tomorrow.The way Harry talks, he's in some mortal peril.It sounds like the Dursleys keep him under lock and key up there, yet Harry still calls them "Aunt" and "Uncle".I just don't think any blood relation could do that to their kin.Hell, I don't know how any human being could do that to another.And what's Harry doing with the Dursleys anyway?Where are his parents?Well, I guess I'll find this all out tomorrow.*Tem looked at the clock* I take that back.Later on today.Doesn't that kid ever sleep?I can still see a light in his window.I suppose if you're imprisoned all the time, you can basically keep any schedule you want to.Well, I guess that's it for now.It's almost 4 a.m.Maybe I can get some sleep before I have to meet him.I'll write tomorrow and let you know what happens.

-Tem

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At 10:00 the next morning, the hooting of an owl at his window awakened Tem.Angry that he had to get up after so little sleep, but happy that the last 24 hours hadn't been a dream, he jumped up and took the note that Hedwig proffered.

Tem-

If you're coming over, now would be the best time.Aunt Petunia is at the market, Uncle Vernon is at work, and Dudley is still asleep.The front door is unlocked, so just come in.Go upstairs and knock on my door (You'll be able to tell which one it is), but be careful not to wake Dudley.See ya soon.

-Harry

Tem threw on some clothes, ran a comb through his short brown hair, and flew out the door, hurling an excuse to his mother on the way.He crept up the front path and paused at the Dursleys front door.He had always avoided this place.Either Dudley was beating him up, or Mr. And Mrs. Dursley were yelling at him to stop picking on their baby.

Tem entered the foyer, cautiously making as little noise as possible.He made his way up the stairs and stopped at the top when he heard a groan come from the room to the right of him.The creak of a bed under the strain of a _lot_ of weight followed."Mommy?" questioned a thick, sleepy voice.

Tem stifled his laughter at the sound of a voice usually so cruel and taunting calling for his mother.He soon, however, realized that he was in immediate danger of getting caught.Tem screwed his voice up as nagging and high-pitched as possible before calling softly, "It's ok, sweetie.Go back to sleep."He waited until he heard Dudley grunt and roll back over again before starting down the hallway.

It was then that Tem saw what Harry had meant.He could indeed tell which room belonged to the wizard.At the end of the hall, a huge padlock was fixed to the door handle, while iron bars covered a small window at the top of the door where someone could just look in and see what the "prisoner" was doing.Tem got the idea that this was built more to Mr. Dursley's height than to Harry's.He walked up and knocked softly on the door twice.

"Hang on," came a soft whisper from the other side.He heard a few words muttered, but couldn't quite catch them.Suddenly there was a small spark, a puff of smoke, and the lock fell to the carpeted floor with a soft _thud_.The door opened, and Tem was pulled in by an unseen hand.He looked up into what could only be the face of Harry Potter, who was laughing so hard his round black glasses were hanging from one ear."That," he said between gasps, "Was the funniest thing I have heard in a very long time.MOMMY!!" he cried in imitation of Dudley, then sank to the floor in helpless fits of laughter.

Tem joined in with a nervous chuckle."Yeah.I really thought I was caught there for a minute."He was pretty nervous, but after seeing Harry like that, he couldn't help but loosen up a little.He hadn't really known what to expect, but it wasn't this.Harry was just a normal kid.He had been picturing something…more mysterious.He peered around the room.Though fairly bare, it was normal enough.The only thing that seemed slightly out of place was a few rolls of parchment piled in the corner, along with some quills and strange textbooks with names like _Transfiguration 104:Pigs to Wigs_ and _The History of Divination:Past, Present, and Future_.And then there was the owl.

"You can pet her if you like," Harry said once he had re-gained self-control and noticed Tem's interest in the bird."She may look kind of threatening, but she's really very gentle."Hedwig visibly glared at Harry as if he had just given away some intimate secret.Tem hesitated for a second, and then, not wanting to look afraid in front of Harry, he gave Hedwig a little scratch on the head.Her eyes immediately closed in ecstasy and she gave a little coo in the back of her throat.So much for threatening.

Tem smiled."She's really soft.And beautiful."

Harry had to agree."Yes.That, and she's very reliable.I got her my first year at Hogwarts as a birthday gift from my friend, Hagrid.You're going to need a pet when you go to school.Owls are great, because we also use them to carry mail in the wizarding world."

Tem nodded."I still don't really believe that this is all happening.One minute, I was a regular kid, writing in my journal, and the next I'm getting letters from schools claiming that I'm a wizard, and then owls from the weird kid next door!It's a bit much to take."

Harry smiled at this description of himself and nodded."I know exactly what you mean.When I first found out, the Dursleys had been trying to keep it from me.I kept getting these weird letters that they wouldn't let me see, and finally they tried to take me away so that the school wouldn't find me.They're rather afraid of magic," he added, seeing the mortified look on Tem's face.He grinned."So you can imagine what happened when Hagrid, who's about ten feet tall, came, tore down the door to the cabin we were staying in, and gave Dudley a pig's tail.It was really funny, but I didn't know what was going on.Hagrid just kind of swept me off to this whole new world where everything was different.

"I had never heard about wizards before, other than the Muggle legends.It really helped to have somebody who knew what was going on.Which is why I guess Dumbledore asked me to help you.It's hard to swallow at first, but wait until we go to Diagon Alley.It'll really sink in then."

"Are you really related to the Dursleys?It's just that you seem so…well adjusted after spending so much time with them."

Harry laughed at this comment."Yes.Unfortunately, I share certain DNA strands with them, but that's about as far as it goes.My parents died when I was very young, and they've been taking care (if you call _this_ care) of me since then."

"Oh."Tem wanted to ask more about Harry's parents, but something stopped him.So he said the next thing that came to mind to fill the awkward silence."What's Diagon Alley?"

***********************************************************************************************

Three days later, Harry and Tem stood outside a small hole-in-the-wall pub called the Leaky Cauldron.Harry had decided that they should take the bus up; he had said that the Floo powder (whatever that was) had been a lot to take the first time.They were about to meet some of Harry's friends in Diagon Alley.Thousands of thoughts flooded Tem's mind.He was so excited and could hardly wait to get to the Alley.He just wished he had a pen so that he could write it all down.He also wished that his parents had opted to come.Both of them had been very reluctant at this, though.They felt, after all that had happened with their friend Becca, that they just didn't belong in the wizarding world.Tem wondered if they ever would fully accept the fact that he was a wizard.They seemed happy enough that he was magical, but didn't really seem to want to be involved with anything that had to do with it.Mrs. Patterson had just given Tem some money, made sure he had his list for school, and sent the boys off.

Tem looked around in wonder at his surroundings.Once they had entered the pub, it wasn't nearly as dilapidated as it seemed from the outside.Mahogany booths lined the walls of the building; the bar was rimmed in gold, and crystal glasses hung from a rack overhead.As they walked through the place, Tem was astounded when Harry talked to Tom, the barkeeper, and the other patrons like they were family.

"I stayed here for about a week one year.I had just blown up my aunt on accident and run away from the Dursleys, and I needed somewhere to go.They're good people here," he explained as they passed out a back door into what seemed like a walled off dead-end.Harry appeared to counted the bricks, three up and two over, and tapped one with his wand.Suddenly a wide archway stretched in front of them, opening to a busy street."Welcome to Diagon Alley," Harry said.Tem was awed.People young and old, walked the street.Most wore long robes and pointy hats, and were carrying strange parcels, birds, and cauldrons.

Harry had walked ahead already, and Tem had to run to catch up.Harry had apparently been talking while he had been admiring the crowd."We'll go to Gringott's first, that's the bank, and change over your money.We don't use the same kind of money that Muggles do.Then I guess we'll get you fitted for your robes.I could use a new one myself.Then, we'll…" As Harry talked, Tem became increasingly conscious that a lot of people were staring at him and his companion as they passed.At first he had thought that it was his clothes.He thought was pretty out of his element here, but then he noticed that a lot of kids were wearing Muggle clothes, too, and they weren't getting weird looks.

When he asked Harry about it, he just looked kind of embarrassed and mumbled something about his scar.It was true; he had noticed the scar before.Who wouldn't?But he had never asked about it to be polite, and Harry had never seemed to want to talk about.So he left it alone.They walked up the busy street and stopped in front of the biggest building that Tem had ever seen.It was beautiful with its large white marble pillars.The entire building was marble, and it glistened.Not a speck of dust from the street seemed ever to have touched it, even with the thousands of people walking in and out of it at that very moment.

The first thing that they did was to exchange the money Mrs. Patterson had given him for wizard money.Tem was delighted as giant golden galleons were piled into a leather bag and handed to him.Then they went down to Harry's vault to get the money that he needed for his supplies.One thing that Tem had never before experienced was motion sickness.He never had a reason to before, as his parents hated traveling, or generally anything that moved faster than a moderate walk.

The cart ride was Hell.

The Gringott's goblins laughed as he was sick over the edge twice.Tem hated appearing weak, but couldn't control the fact that his breakfast much preferred to enjoy the view of the ride outside rather than stay in his stomach.He opted to lie down in the cart while Harry got his money, and toughened up for the ride back; he only let loose once then.As they tottered back out of the bank, Harry asked if he would be ok.Tem replied shakily, "Never…again.I will never ever get a vault there unless it's in walking distance."Harry just laughed and said nothing.

"Ok," Harry began, always the authoritative one.(Tem was glad, because he didn't know what would have happened if he were in charge.)"We'll start at the robe shop.You can get fitted while I wait for my friends outside.They should be here soon.I really think you'll like them."Tem nodded, and went into the shop.Harry called over his shoulder, "If you need anything, just call!"

As he walked into the darkened shop, Tem felt a rush of anxiety.This would be his very first act on his way to being a wizard.(He discounted his trip to Gringott's.He never wanted to remember that again.Ever.)A kind witch led him to a stool and mirror, where another kid was already standing.He looked really bored.The kid's face brightened up as he saw Tem walk up.

"Hi!I'm Alan!What's your name?Are you a first year, too?OOOH!You come from a Muggle family, eh?"The kid fired off the questions like bullets, and Tem didn't know what to answer first.He eyed the kid.He was kind of tall, with blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes.And a loud mouth.

"Umm.Hi," he said, stepping up to the stool where the witch started measuring him."I'm Tem Patterson.Yeah, I'm a first year, and how did you know I come from Muggles?"He just decided to answer all the questions at once so that he could get a word in edgewise.Alan looked at him like he was crazy.

"It's the clothes.Blue jeans just don't fit in around here."Tem looked down at his clothes and realized he had forgotten how out of place he looked."It's ok," Alan continued, "They'll get you straightened out here.Say, what house do you think you'll be in?Gryffindor's supposed to be the best.Besides, that's the house that Harry Potteris in.Every kid wants to be in that house." 

Now it was Tem's turn to look at Allen strangely.Sure, Harry was a great guy and all, but this kid really seemed to revere him.Dumbledore had mentioned that he was a very promising student, but could anyone be _this_ popular?"What's so special about Harry Potter?" he asked the kid.Alan fell into a state of open-mouthed shock.

"Y-you mean you don't know?" he stuttered.Alan didn't seem to know what to say."But…but…You-Know-Who…his parents…the scar…the tournament…_YOU DON'T KNOW?!_" He managed to whimper out.

Tem opened his mouth to ask _about what_ when the bell on the door tinkled and a familiar voice came through."Tem," Harry shouted."Hurry up!Ron and Hermione are here and I want you to meet them!"Tem turned and yelled that he would be there in a minute, then turned back to the mirror, where the witch was pinning up his robe.Alan looked at him in amazement.

"Was that…" he whispered, his voice filled with awe.

"Harry?Yeah.He's my next-door neighbor.He's showing me around some."Tem couldn't help but be proud of the fact that he was friends with Harry, even though he didn't know what the big deal was.He decided to tell Harry about the kid when he left, and they would get all get a big kick out of it.Alan let out a final squeak, trying to regain his voice, but as soon as it looked like he could say something, the witch announced that he was done and could leave."I'll see you at school!" Tem called after him as the kid walked stiffly out the door.His robes were soon finished, and he, too, paid and left.

He spotted Harry as he walked out of the store; with him were a tall, gangly boy with flaming red hair who was laughing, and a shorter girl with frizzy brown hair who was looking indignant.Harry introduced them as his best friends, Ron and Hermione.As if Tem couldn't guess.They were all Harry talked about, besides the Dursley's.Tem introduced himself, and then they set off to finish their shopping.

By the time they left, Tem had all his textbooks, a young brown owl, a wand (11-inch rowan with Pegasus wing feathers), several robes, and a hat.He had had a great time with Harry and the gang.He really liked Harry's friends, and found he got along with Ron particularly well.Tem arrived home that evening happy, and went to bed with the familiar dread that he would wake up and find out it had all been a dream, though this time it seemed less likely.He fell asleep that night, face in journal, when the words that had earlier been a raging torrent from his pen became a trickle and died.


	4. Part 3-The Hogwarts Express

Author's notes: This was originally supposed to be the sorting, but the train ride took a lot longer than I thought

A/N:Ok, I have no idea what happened, but I couldn't open this on my other disk to edit when I got it beta-read the first time.So here it is, all nice and corrected.

Disclaimer:Harry & Co. belongs to J.K. Rowling.Tem, Alan, Alyssa, and Fay all belong to ME!!!

And now…

HARRY'S NEIGHBOR-PART 3

The Hogwarts Express

Tem woke before the sun on the morning of September 1st.While usually a very late riser, he could not contain his excitement for what was coming later in the day.Today he was going to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

While he waited for his parents to wake up, Tem dashed around his room putting the finishing touches on his packing.He had a trunk full of everything he needed for school:robes, books, quills, ink, parchment, and his wand.On top of all that, he set his owl, Ogilvy[*][1] (Gill for short).In another bag, aside from his quills and parchment, Tem carried his current journal and about 20 other empty notebooks and pens.He always wrote in plain black spiral-bound notebooks and black or blue pen.But the pens couldn't be ballpoint.Those just didn't have the same _personality_ that the rolling-ball pens did.Even though personality did have the tendency to leak more.

Tem had already filled two bookcases with these notebooks.Some had everyday events in them, some with stories and poetry, and some with sketches.Tem even had a section of a bookshelf set aside for his more fragile books (i.e. the ones Dudley caught him with on the playground and ripped up in defiance of intelligence.These were painstakingly taped together and tucked safely away).He loved each and every one of them.He also had a feeling he'd be writing home fairly shortly for some new ones.

Excited and nervous, Tem paced his room for a while after he was done packing.He watched the sun rise out his window and waved to his neighbor Harry, who was already up too.Harry seemed just as excited (if not more) than him to get back to school.Tem couldn't blame him, not after seeing how the Dursley's treated him.The worst thing was that Tem felt responsible for keeping Harry there when he could easily have go to Ron's house for the last bit of summer.But Harry had stayed, insisting that it wasn't just his promise to Dumbledore to watch over Tem that had kept him at Privet Drive.Tem thought he was just trying to make him feel better.

So here they were, getting ready to go to King's Cross Station.It was finally time.The Patterson's were taking Harry to the station because the Dursley's didn't want anything to do with Hogwarts.(Needless to say, they were now pointedly ignoring the Patterson family.Tem's parents didn't care, though.They had never liked their neighbors anyway.)

Tem and Harry piled their stuff in the car, squeezing their trunks in back and setting the owls between them in the seat.Hedwig gave Gill a suspicious look.She had gotten used to Tem's attention and felt threatened by this new presence.Gill gave a friendly hoot, which appeared to startle the older bird.She returned it tentatively, then they settled into a comfortable silence.

As they drove, Tem read over his Hogwarts letter for what seemed like the billionth time.This time, something caught his eye that he hadn't noticed before."Hey, what's all this Nine and Three-quarters business?I've been to King's Cross before and never noticed a platform Nine and Three-quarters."

Harry smiled."You'll see when we get there.It's kinda hard to explain.Just think of it as a part of the whole Hogwart's experience."

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Half an hour later they were there.Mr. and Mrs. Patterson helped the boys toss their luggage onto trolleys, then rolled their way to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10."Ok," Harry instructed."It's really easy.Just run into the wall."

"Uh…Harry…" Tem stuttered, looking at the frighteningly solid barrier.

"Shh." Harry silenced him, and pointed to the barrier."Watch that kid.The one with the owl."Sure enough, no sooner had Tem seen the kid than he had vanished, right into the solid wall."It's really easy," Harry said again, "just lean against it, and when you're sure that no muggles are looking, turn to the side and push.You'll fall right through."

Tem watched a few more kids do it before he got up his nerve to try."Could you go first?"He was embarrassed to ask, but didn't feel at all sure of even this menial magical task.No matter what had happened at all this summer, he still didn't feel like a wizard.

Harry just smirked."Don't worry.I'll be right behind you.Just watch out for Ron's older brothers as you go in.They like to trip first years sometimes."Tem didn't seem at all relieved at the prospect of being embarrassed in front of Harry's friends.Harry watched as he bade good-bye to his parents, walked nervously up to the barrier, flitted his eyes across the crowd of uncaring muggles, and sunk into the wall.

There was a slight whooshing noise as Tem fell through.He stumbled and fell flat on his face, looking up from the ground to two pairs of beaten up shoes, which led to two robes, and finally two identical redheads laughing hysterically.

Tem heard the whooshing sound behind him again, and a familiar voice reprimanding the twins."Shut up, George," came Harry's voice."You, too Fred.Tem's off limits.He's a friend of mine.Don't worry, there'll be many more first years where he came from."The laughter stopped and two pairs of hands bent down to help Tem up.

"Sorry man," said one with a large "G" printed on his robe."We didn't know you were a friend of Harry's.I'm Fred, and this is George."The other one, with a large "F" on his robe, looked down and examined the letter branded on his chest and protested.

"Wait, I thought _I_ was Fred.Mum must have switched our robes again.Can't she ever get us straight?!"Tem looked in confusion between the two.He had only been at the station for a few seconds, and already older wizards were making fun of him.

Harry whispered in his ear as the two kept arguing about who was who."Don't worry about them.Like I said, those are Ron's brothers.They're the biggest pranksters in school, but they're good friends when it comes down to it.The one on the left," he said, pointing to the boy with the "G" printed on his robe, "is Fred.You can tell because his eye always twitches a little when he tells a lie.Which is almost all the time, so it's pretty easy to tell them apart."

Tem smiled his thanks for the information and picked up the bags that had fallen when he tripped.Luckily, Gill was ok, though a bit ruffled.Tem turned at the sound of footsteps behind him."Harry!Tem!!You'd better hurry up and get your stuff on the train.Same compartment as always!"Hermione came running up.

Tem greeted her warmly; Harry smiled and hugged his friend that he hadn't seen since Diagon Alley."How's it goin', 'Mione?I missed you!" 

Hermione smiled at Tem, and then turned to Harry."Good, good!I visited Viktor a few weeks ago.Bulgaria is really a beautiful country.Interesting culture, too.Anyway, we ended up breaking it off, but don't tell Ron that yet.He's still insanely jealous of the two of us."Tem noted a sparkle of mischief in her eye as she continued in a lower voice (one that Tem was probably not supposed to hear) "So, have you heard from Snuffles lately?"Harry shook his head slightly, and then frowned towards Tem, who tried to make it look like he hadn't been listening.

"I'll tell you about it later," Harry said through gritted teeth.Hermione nodded, and they all set off for the great scarlet train in silence.

***********************************************************************************************

Tem followed the two through the crowded train into a nearly empty compartment towards the back.The only occupant leapt up at their entry."Harry!I would have thought you were dead if it weren't for the owls!How did you survive a whole summer with the Dursley's?" Ron's words rushed out as he gave Harry as warm a greeting as he could while still looking "manly". 

Harry laughed at his friend's worry for him."It was ok.Not like it was great or anything, but I did have Tem to keep me company, so that was pretty cool.Besides, I had to do it for eleven years before school, so why not now?"Tem couldn't help but feel proud that he had made Harry's summer better.Ron turned to Tem, appearing to notice him for the first time.

"Hey!How's it going?Excited to be on your way to Hogwarts?Wait'll ya see the Gryffindor common room!It's great!!"Ron gave him that big smile that Tem noticed as a characteristic among all the Weasley's.He felt a little intimidated at this assumption that he would be in the best house that Hogwarts had to offer.

"You don't know that he'll be in Gryffindor," Harry cut in, "even though that would be great.But he's a really smart kid.I could see him in Ravenclaw just as easily."Tem felt the train lurch forward as they finally got underway.He also felt his stomach lurch, a little bit of motion sickness left over from Gringotts.Running over to the window, he quickly shut the screen.He certainly hadn't felt brave enough for Gryffindor when he was getting sick over the side of the cart.

"Anyway," Harry continued, "We'll see tonight, eh?"He nudged Tem with his elbow.Tem just nodded numbly and edged away from the window.

At that moment, the compartment door slammed and three older boys walked into the car.One of them was smaller with blonde hair and what seemed like a permanent sneer marked across his face; the other two could simply be described as brick walls.The little rat-faced one spoke up.

"Well, well, well.It looks as if Potter has himself a new groupie," he looked pointedly at Tem."And what's your name, little one?Think that following Potter around is going to make you more popular, or did you just come for his autograph?"The boy's voice was as nasty as his face.As he and his friends broke into a high-pitched laughter, Tem felt his face flush.He wanted to respond with a really biting comeback.One that would send the kid out of the compartment, never to come back again.He clenched his fists into balls and screwed his face into the meanest look he could muster, and let the kid have it…

"iii…ee…aaa…"The string of vowels that escaped his mouth instead of the biting remark was almost as embarrassing as the laughter that followed it.Luckily, (or not, depending on the viewpoint,) Harry came to his rescue.

"Shut up, Malfoy!What's the matter, you can't find any good insults to throw at me, so you go for my younger friends?Tem isn't going to take any crap from you this year, and neither am I.So why don't you just go crawl back into that hole of yours and Leave.Us.Alone."Malfoy stopped laughing, and looked instead like he had been struck across the face.

"Fine.But you had better watch yourself this year, Potter.And that little groupie of yours, too," he shot over his shoulder before slinking out of the compartment.His brick-like companions thundered out after him.

When he was gone, Tem breathed, "Wow.Who was that?I mean really, I thought _Dudley_ was bad until I saw him."

"It's ok," Ron piped up, "That's just Draco Malfoy, the most annoying kid the wizarding world ever produced.He basically evil, but stupid enough to not be that much of a threat."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, "Just ignore him and he'll go away most of the time.Come on, let's teach Tem to play Exploding Snap!"

So, a few hours and many fewer arm hairs later, Tem excused himself to find the bathroom.He worked his way through several compartments before finding the one that the bathroom was located on.On his way back, he recognized the kid from the robe shop talking to some other kids his age, and stopped to say hi.

"Hey," he tapped him on the shoulder, "You're Alan, right?"Alan half-turned at his name, seeming annoyed at being disturbed from his conversation.His eyes grew wide at the sight of Tem, though, and he immediately stopped what he was doing.

"Hey," He yelled, "Guys!It's that kid I was telling you about!!The one that's friends with Harry Potter!!"The rest of the table turned their heads to look at him for the first time.*Well, * Tem thought, *Malfoy may have been nasty, but he sure was right.If you want to be popular in this place, just claim to know Harry. *

Outside of his head, though, Tem was turning red again."Err…hi.I'm Tem.Tem Patterson."The group immediately broke out into a squabble of questions.

"Do you really know Harry?"

"What's he like?"

"Is his scar really gross looking?"

"Does he ever talk about what happened last year?"

Tem couldn't take it anymore.Along with motion sickness, he was coming to find that he had an overwhelming claustrophobia.He finally burst."THAT'S IT!!What's so special about Harry, anyway?!He's just a normal kid, why does everyone treat him like he's some sort of celebrity?!"There was a collective gasp from the table, and then dead silence. 

"I told you guys," Alan muttered under his breath.To Tem he said, "You mean you really don't know?"Tem shook his head."Ok.Sit down, and we'll tell you about the real Harry Potter."

Tem felt all this was very strange and kind of ominous, but really wanted to know what everyone kept making such a fuss about.Harry never said anything about his past, and Tem had just figured that it wasn't his business.But now he was really curious.He sat down in a booth along with two girls, one with short, bright red hair, and another with long brown hair.

"First of all, introductions," Alan began, "Tem, this is Alyssa and Fay," he said pointing to his companions in turn.They nodded in acknowledgement."So how long have you known Harry?I mean, you can't know him and not know his story, can you?"

Tem stammered, he wasn't used to being left out of the loop like this."I met him this summer.He lives next door to me in the Muggle world."He's lived there longer than I have, but I didn't know until I got my letter this year because our neighbors didn't want us to know about him.He never talks about his past or anything.He always avoids anything that has to do with his parents."

Alan nodded, and Tem was happy that this seemed like a satisfactory explanation."Oh.Ok.Well, basically, Harry defeated the most powerful dark wizard that the world has ever seen when he was a baby.You-know-who (don't ask me who, because I won't say his name) killed his parents, and left that scar on Harry's forehead.He's rumored to have come back to power since last year, and Harry dueled him.And he only came out with a scratch on his arm!Another kid was killed, though."Tem's face darkened in anger.

"You're lying!That can't possibly be true, he would have mentioned something about it!" He cried.Alan just shook his head.

"Sorry, but I don't lie about things like this.And that's not all.Remember a few years ago, when that convict, Sirius Black, escaped prison?"Tem nodded, brow furrowed in confusion and fury.Alan continued."He was after Harry.Apparently, he helped You-Know-Who kill the kid's parents, and wanted to finish him off.Don't know whatever happened with that, though.It all just quieted down after a while.Maybe it was just a rumor.But the scar thing is definitely true," he finished in a matter-of-fact voice.The girls nodded in agreement.

"Whatever," Tem said coldly, standing up, "I'm going back to talk to Harry.He'll tell me the truth."With that, he walked out of the compartment.Alan just shrugged.

Tem picked his way across loud kids; some fighting, some laughing, some places small explosions popped up where some played Exploding Snap.He finally stopped outside of the compartment that Harry and his friends were staying in and listened when he heard them talking.

"So really," he heard Hermione say, "What does Sirius say?Has he found the others yet?Is he coming back this year?"

"I don't know if he's coming back," Harry said, "but I do know that he's staying with Remus for right now.As for the others, I think they've found one or two.Hagrid finally came back, though.I think last week.They managed to make peace negotiations with the giants so that they wouldn't go back to Voldemort's side."Tem didn't know why, but he felt himself cringe at Volemort's name.Deciding he had been gone too long, he opened the door to the compartment.

"Hey!" Harry said, looking up in surprise, with a trace of guilt in his voice."We thought you had fallen in!What took you so long?"

Tem tried to look embarrassed and said he had gotten lost.Harry looked at him skeptically, but didn't say anything.Finally, Tem had to say something."Ok.This weird kid I met in the robe shop at Diagon Alley told me this crazy story about you and some dark wizard killing your parents, and how you got your scar.And _then _he told me that Sirius Black was trying to kill you!I can't believe the lies he was telling!It was disgusting!!!"

Ron and Hermione gave Tem the same _you mean you don't know_ look that the others had.Harry looked disgusted, too."I can't believe he said that about Sirius!!I'll kill the kid!!"At Tem's confused look, he added, "Oh.But the other stuff's true.Sirius Black is my godfather.We helped him escape from the dementors a few years ago, and now he's out trying to get together some friends to stop the rise of that Voldemort again.But you can't tell anybody," He said this airily, with an amused look on his face as if he had just announced the arrival of dinner or something.

Tem sputtered out a few words, but then collapsed in a chair, and shut his mouth.He honestly had nothing to say for once in his life.Hermione shot a dirty look at Harry, and came and sat next to Tem."Tem, I know it's a lot to take a first, but it's all true.I don't know why Harry didn't tell you, he was probably just waiting for the right time," here she shot another _What-on-Earth-were-you-thinking?_ look in Harry's direction. "You just can't say anything about Sirius to anybody, you promise?"Tem nodded.Hermione broke into a grin."Great!Now, you'd better hurry up and get changed into your robes.We'll be there soon."

Tem hadn't noticed before, but all three of them had changed into their long black school robes.He did so himself in a smaller, empty compartment.So many things rattled around in his brain.It was like he had just been told he was a wizard all over again.It was all new information, sifting through the cracks of his brain, trying to sink in.How could Harry, the everyday boy-across-the-street have so many secrets?He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but didn't think he'd ever be able to put them all into words.He finished changing just as he felt the train slow, and finally come to a stop.

There was a bustle of robes flocking everywhere, trying to get where they needed to be.Tem faintly heard a deep voice bellowing over the crowd."Firs' years!!!Firs' years this way!!Leave yer trunks on the train.Firs' years, this way!"

Tem followed the general crowd that seemed to be going the same way that he needed to, and swept toward a lake.He barely registered the black forest that was to the left side as the castle came into view.It was breathtaking.The soft glow from torches emanated from the windows, reflecting the castle and mountains into the lake.In the lake itself, he could see dozens of boats waiting to be filled."Four ter a boat!" the deep voice cried, "Only four ter a boat!Hurry up now!Four ter a boat!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\That's it!!!On with the sorting!And don't forget to review when you're done!

  


[][2]

   [1]: #_edn1
   [2]: #_ednref1



	5. Part 4-The Sorting

** **

Author's Notes:Ok, so here's Tem's sorting.Thanks to those who actually took the time to submit a request (while I had the poll open) as to which house Tem should be in.Not very many of you did.In fact, more of you replied to the poll long after I had written and posted this part!!People are weird.That's why I prefer to sit at my computer and write about them instead of interacting with them.Oh, well.So anyway, on with the sorting!PLEASE REVIEW!

PS- ** indicate thoughts

Summary:Tem gets sorted; he gains a little insight to what Harry's life must be like.

Disclaimer:I own nothing.Really.Just leave me alone, ok?Go pick on somebody with some money, and leave me be.I promise to return J.K.'s characters (for they are hers, not mine) virtually unscathed and where I found them.But please leave me with MY four meager characters:Tem, Alan, Alyssa, and Fay (for they are MINE and NOT HERS!)

And now… (For real this time)…

Harry's Neighbor-Part 4

The Sorting

Tem was shuffled and shoved into the back of a boat.Three other people climbed in after him, and off they went.He could still hear the cries of the giant shepherding the last of the students into boats over the wind that whistled in his ears.

At first, when he realized that they were moving, Tem clamped his eyes shut, fearing the onslaught of another bout of motion sickness.This, however, was nothing like the rough jolts of the train, or the wild ups-and-downs of the Gringotts cart.This was smooth sailing.Tem opened his eyes, tentatively at first, and found himself enjoying the rush of the cool night air under a crystal clear sky.

Finally, he turned his attention to his boat mates, and found that he had been jostled into the same boat as Alan and his two friends.They were staring at him expectantly. 

"So?" the redhead, Alyssa, whispered,"Did you talk to him?"

Tem sighed in defeat.He always hated admitting he was wrong, but was not above it."Yeah, I talked to him," he looked around at his companions, stopping on Alan."And I'm really sorry I called you a liar.I don't usually overreact like that; you just took me by surprise.I mean, you think you know someone, ya know?And then all of the sudden they're like, 'Oh, by the way, I'm a superhero.Just thought I'd tell you that _after_ you made a jackass of yourself in front of a bunch of wizards.'" 

Tem's bitter mockery of Harry surprised even himself.But when he really thought about it, Harry _did_ kind of betray him.How was he supposed to help Tem adjust to life in the wizarding world when he kept leaving out key facts, like how_ he saved the world from the Dark Lord_?!But Tem really needed to have a longer chat with Harry before he could truly be angry with him.He still depended on his guidance and looked up to him like a big brother.His mind was in turmoil, trying to decide between anger and acceptance.

Tem's three boat companions watched all these thoughts and emotions flicker across his face before Alan finally spoke up."Hey, it's ok.I mean, I've heard that Harry's a very modest guy.Maybe he just wanted someone to look up to him for a different reason than his good reputation.But it still wasn't right for him to keep you in the dark like that."He looked like he wanted to continue, but stopped when he realized that they had reached their destination.Tem looked up in awe at the immense turrets and towers that loomed over them.Even Alan, Alyssa, and Fay, who had seemed very confident thus far, cowered slightly under the castle's massive gaze.

When all of the first years had reached the shore, the giant, (from Harry's descriptions, Tem assumed that this was Hagrid) led them up the marble steps to the large double doors of the castle.They opened slowly and silently inward, apparently all by themselves, to reveal a very stern-looking woman.She was short, but had a very tall aura.She seemed to tower over you with the slightest glance. Everything about her was hard, even her hair was pinned into an almost rock-solid bun in the back of her head.Tem wondered if it ever came down, or if it was just molded there. 

"Welcome, first years," she said with a small grimace that Tem decided was supposed to be a smile."My name is Professor McGonagall.I am the Deputy HeadMistress here at Hogwarts.If you will please follow me, I will take you into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your houses before the feast begins."With a sharp turn on her heel, she strode off quickly into the entranceway.The first years hurried behind her to catch up.

The professor stopped them again outside another set of double doors, behind which they could hear all sorts of murmurs, scattered talking, and laughter.Tem guessed that that was where all of the other students were waiting for them."Now," Professor McGonagall declared crisply as soon as they had all caught up."If you will wait here for just a moment, I will get ready for the sorting.Now is your last chance to neaten up your appearance before we go in."With that, she walked off, the combination of her heels and short, powerful strides making loud staccato _clicks_ as she walked across the polished floor.

Taking her advice, Tem tried to do something with his wind-swept brown hair and straightened his robes a bit before going in.As he did so, he smiled to hear other kids, including Alan, fearfully talking in hushed voices about the test required to sort the kids into their houses.As Harry had already told him about the Sorting Hat, he chuckled silently as he listened to the wild stories that they had heard.(Incidentally, these were mostly from older siblings who had already gone through it.)

Fay, who was standing to his right, looked like she was about to wet herself.Tem looked over as she clutched onto his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I heard that we have to face a troll.Is that true?"She looked at him with pleading in her eyes, on the verge of tears.

Tem, being the immature 11-year-old boy that he is, couldn't resist saying, "No, it's a dragon.Definitely.Lots of fire."The look of relief that had momentarily swept her face disintegrated into sheer terror.

"Y-y-you're kidding, right?!Please tell me you're joking!!" she cried, one of the tears escaping and falling down her pale cheek.

Tem smiled."Yeah, I am.All we really have to do is try on a hat.But don't tell anyone, I'm really enjoying this."She hit him playfully on the arm and smiled for the first time since he had met her.And for the first time since he met her, he noticed how pretty she was.Her long brown hair flowed down her back, so straight it looked like an iron had pressed it.When she smiled, her nose wrinkled slightly and tiny dimples formed at the corners of her mouth.Tem could see that her parents had chosen a fitting name for her.She looked like a fairy.

Suddenly, Fay grabbed his arm."It's time," she whispered dramatically.Sure enough, Professor McGonagall had returned while he had been admiring her.Without saying a word, the teacher marched into the Great Hall (aptly named, Tem noted) and beckoned the students to follow her.She led them up to the front of the immense Hall, in which sat four great tables with the house banners over them.Here he noticed for the first time the enchanted ceiling, where the walls seemed to stretch on forever into the darkened sky.It was beautiful.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Harry managed to catch Tem's eye.He gave a little wave, looking slightly sheepish."I'm sorry," he mouthed across the room to Tem.

Tem shook his head and smiled."Don't worry about it," he mouthed back."I'll talk to you later."Harry nodded, seeming happy that Tem wasn't mad at him. 

Several of the first years noticed Tem talking to somebody, and swiveled their heads to see what the commotion was about.Suddenly, one of them let out a high-pitched shriek and yelled, "That's him!!That's _Harry Potter_!!!" 

All over the first years looked around at this and started whispering and pointing at Harry.It was then that Tem decided that Alan was right.Harry, who was not used to any attention at all from the Muggles he lived with, had been thrust into the spotlight.It must have been like looking into the sun after living in darkness forever.He couldn't enjoy the attention, and only wanted someone to be his friend for him, not for who he was known as.

The noise in the hall died down as an old man with flowing silver hair and a very crooked nose stood up and called for quiet.He stretched his arms in front of him as if trying to take the whole of the student body into a giant hug."Good evening," he began."My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore.I am the Headmaster here at Hogwarts, and I wish to bid a warm welcome to the first years, and a happy return to those who are, well, returning.As we start the sorting, I wish you all good luck in your new houses.And now… Let it begin!" As he said this, he threw up his arms, and the thousands of candles that were floating over the tables gave a great whistle and shot off fireworks.Everybody in the room collectively gasped in delight, or screamed with fright.To Tem's great pleasure, he found that Fay had clutched onto his arm again.

Professor McGonagall walked to the front and placed an old battered hat on a stool.Suddenly, a tear seemed to spread across the seam where the brim and hat joined.Tem was afraid that it was so old it was done for.And then it burst into song.It described the origin of the four houses and the properties of each.

When it was finished, the entire hall burst into applause.Professor McGonagall stood up again and proclaimed, "As I read your name aloud, please come to the front and try on the hat," Everything she said seemed like an order.Tem cringed to think about what that wonderful welcoming speech would have been like if she had given it instead of Professor Dumbledore.

One by one, students were called up to the front.Sometimes it took the hat a long time to place a kid, but others it picked up right away.Tem noticed that almost all of the Slytherins were placed as soon as the hat touched their heads.*I guess it's easy to tell the difference between slime and bravery, intelligence, or loyalty,* he thought.

The list seemed to drag on forever.Tem watched as Alan and Alyssa were placed in Ravenclaw.Just a few more until his turn.He felt himself growing antsier by the second, shifting from foot to foot.He barely noticed as Thomas O'Leary was placed in Hufflepuff and Emma Orson was thrown into Slytherin.Finally,

"Patterson, Templeton" McGonagall called.As Tem walked up, his legs felt like jelly.All eyes were on him.What if he put on the hat and it just started laughing at him?This whole time he hadn't really felt like a wizard, maybe he wasn't.Maybe it was a mistake…

The world went dark as the hat slid over his eyes.Tem jumped as a voice spoke to him."Well, well, well.Aren't we the creative one?I can feel lots of energy coming from that little brain of yours.Oh, but there's lots of bravery here, too."

*But I'm not brave.I get sick off the side of bank carts.How can you call that brave?* Tem thought.

The hat seemed to hear this."Oh, but you are brave.Gringotts isn't a test of bravery, dear.Believe me, you haven't been tested yet.But when you are, I think you will be very surprised.But your _mind_ dear, that is what truly impresses me more than anything.I believe the only house for you is RAVENCLAW!"The last word was shouted so that the rest of the hall could hear. 

As Tem walked to the Ravenclaw table, he looked regretfully back at Harry, who waved at him sadly.Maybe he should have acted brave to the hat so that it would have placed them together.Or maybe this is where he belonged.He took a seat next to Alan and Alyssa, and was cheered up a little when Fay joined them, too.Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.And then the feast began.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\ That's it!!Tem's a Ravenclaw!Sorry to those of you who voted him into Gryffindor, (which was, incidentally, almost all of you who voted) I just thought that Tem should get out on his own.Don't worry, I'll keep Harry & Co. in the story.It wouldn't be HP fanfic if he weren't!Anyway, aside from my possibly poor judgment call, let me know what you think.I really don't hate McGonagall as much as I sound like I do.I just didn't know how to write her, and I think she came off a little more militant than I meant for her to.What do you think?(hint hint REVIEW) Oh, well.Sorry again this took so long to come out.I'll try harder next time.Keep watching for my regularly scheduled Wednesday post.(I swear, my author's notes are longer than the actual story)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\


	6. Part 5-Tem's First Day

Summary:Tem's first day at Hogwarts.

Disclaimer:I own Tem, Alan, Fay, Alyssa, any other people I may happen to make up just to keep the story going, and the plotline (unless I stole it without knowing it.If so, sorry).Hogwarts Mistress J.K. Rowling owns everything else.You've heard the schpiel before.I'm poor.Get over it.

# **Harry's Neighbor-Part 5**

## The First Day

Tem leaned back in his chair, having finished his third helping of Treacle Tart.He hadn't realized how hungry he was until the golden plates had filled with all of his favorite food.Now he was on the verge of bursting.A small burp escaped his lips.Now that he was finished, he began to realize just how tired he was.Tem's eyes began to droop as the people around him finished also.

Finally, the feast was over, and a Ravenclaw prefect led them in the opposite direction of the Gryffindor tower.Tem waved goodbye to Harry, and turned towards his new friends.They marched through hidden walls and tapestries, fake stairways and mirrors, finally coming to a stop in front of an old coat of armor.It snapped to attention as the large group walked up."Password?" it squeaked through a rusty visor.

The prefect identified the new password as "clandestine" and the armor stepped aside, revealing a small passageway behind. Tem crawled into the little passageway, following Alyssa and Fay.He entered a large room filled with an eclectic collection of furniture all arranged in front of a roaring fire.Beanbags and old, worn, squishy couches and chairs were scattered about, interspersed with mismatched tables and lamps.The common room reminded Tem of a coffee house in London his parents had taken him to once.He could imagine poetry readings and intellectual conversation floating around the room.He could see himself sitting the corner writing in his journal.He really felt he belonged here.

One of the prefects led the boys through a passageway on one side of the common room to their dormitories, while the girls were led the opposite way.Tem and Alan waved goodbye to Alyssa and Fay after agreeing to meet up in the morning for breakfast.They entered the room labeled "First Years" and found their trunks and other belongings already waiting for them in front of the four-poster beds that had been assigned to them.Tem and Alan entered together, along with four other kids that Tem recognized from the sorting.Introductions were quickly made before Kevin, Shea, Oakley, Caleb, Alan, and Tem changed and went to bed.Tem had barely slipped beneath the sheets before dropping immediately asleep.

**********************************************************************************************

The next morning, Tem woke much later than he had meant to.Four of the boys had already left, and only Alan was left in their room, hurriedly pulling on his robes.Alan jumped at the sight of Tem's head peeking out from between his bed curtains."Man," he exclaimed."I thought you had left ages ago!Hurry up, we were supposed to meet the girls in the common room five minutes ago!"Without a word, Tem jumped out of bed and quickly threw his robes on.

Five minutes later, they were running through the passageway to the common room.They skidded to a halt at the sight of the two girls.Fay sat on the edge of a table, trying to look angry and impatient; Alyssa, on the other hand, was sprawled across a beanbag chair.She looked as if she were about to fall asleep again, her short red hair falling in soft layers across her freckled face.

"S-sorry we're late," Alan stuttered, looking fearfully into Fay's stormy brown eyes."Tem woke up late.I was just waiting for him…"

"Hey!" Tem yelled in his own defense."You were already late when I woke up!Don't blame this on me!"

Fay just burst out giggling."You boys are hilarious!Always making excuses!"Relieved that she wasn't really angry, Alan walked over and lightly dug a foot into Alyssa's ribs."Wake up sleepy-head," he whispered.She made a small squeak of surprise and jumped straight onto her feet, looking wildly around like a cat.

"Who did that?I'm up!Really!"The three others burst into a fit of laughter and simply turned away, walking towards the crawlspace on their way to the Great Hall.Alyssa ran to catch up.

Down at breakfast, they received their schedules for the start of the term.Their first class was Potions with Snape and the Hufflepuffs."Man," Tem cursed silently under his breath."First period Monday morning wasted in the dungeon with Snape.What a great way to start off a week!" he said sarcastically.Harry had told him plenty of stories about his Potions classes.Some of these he related to his friends, who were wondering what could possibly be so bad that Tem would swear like that.

Tem was interrupted from his tirade when he heard a sudden rustling of feathers towards the back of the hall.He was very startled to see several hundred owls flying in, all carrying letters and packages.Ogilvy landed in front of Tem and accidentally stuck his scaly, clawed foot into the eggs.Tem decided he was done with those.Gill dropped a hastily scribbled note into his lap and was rewarded with a small piece of bacon and a scritch on the head.He then flew back to the owlery with a piece of scrambled egg clinging to a back talon.

Tem turned to the note.It read:

Tem-

Meet me at the girl's bathroom on the second floor tonight at sundown.I'll explain everything then.

-Harry

He had barely finished the note when the bell rang and they had to get going to the dungeons.Potions passed pretty much without incident, even Snape wasn't that bad.He had managed to get out a few insults to a short pudgy Hufflepuff student, but it wasn't like anything that Harry had told him.He decided it must have something to do with the houses.Obviously, Snape had something against Gryffindor, and Slytherin was his own house, and the fact that Gryffindor kept beating Slytherin in everything couldn't help matters.He seemed to Tem like the kind of person to play favorites.

Next was Herbology with the Slytherins.They spent most of the time learning their way around the greenhouses.One of the Slytherin girls found what she thought was a huge bucket of pumpkin seeds and spent the period spitting them at Fay, Alyssa, and the rest of the Ravenclaw girls.They didn't mind the seeds in their hair, however, when the Slytherin girl accidentally swallowed one of them and grew vines out her ears.She was led away to the hospital wing with the rest of the Ravenclaws behind, pointing and laughing. 

After lunch, they had double Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall.None of them managed to change all of their matches to pins, but Tem did manage to turn his matches silver.At dinner, they all sat around talking about their first day of classes, especially the incident with the Slytherin girl and the seeds.

"Did you see the look on her face when the first leaf sprouted out of her ear?That was priceless!"Alyssa did an animated imitation of the girl screaming and trying to pull the vine from her ears.The rest of the table laughed.All in all, it had been a pretty good day.They had even managed to get a few points for their house when Alyssa answered a surprisingly hard question on the properties of the Benzoin root.

Right after dinner, Tem left his friends in the common room to go meet Harry.He made his way down to the bathroom from directions attached to the note, hiding behind a tapestry as Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, walked by.The cat sniffed suspiciously at the lump in the tapestry, but ignored it when she saw a potential rule-breaker down the hall.Tem breathed a sigh of relief then slipped out before the Hellcat could come back and investigate further.He stopped outside the bathroom, eyeing the "girls" sign on the front dubiously.Before he could question his ethics too much, an unseen hand grabbed his arm, wrenched the door open, and pulled him inside.Tem gave a shout of surprise.Suddenly, Harry's head popped up in front of him, floating and grinning.This time, Tem gave a shout of horror.

"Oh, my God!Harry, what...?"Harry's head moved forward and the unseen hand clamped over his mouth, muffling his confused cries.

"Shhh!Do you really want Mrs. Norris or Filch finding us in here?This is one of the last sacred rooms in the castle.They don't think that anyone would come in here."Tem's eyes were still large and round, looking fearfully at Harry's lack of body.Harry looked down and realized that he was still in the cloak."Sorry," he said, shrugging out of it."Invisibility cloak.I forgot that you didn't know about it."

Tem's breathing calmed as a neck appeared in front of him, and finally a torso and legs.Harry's head was no longer floating.Harry handed him what looked like silver liquid fabric.Tem held it up, looking at it in wonder."Where did you get this?" he breathed, sliding the cloak over his arm.His arm disappeared, along with the section of cloak covering his arm.He could see right through it."Wow," he muttered.

"It was my father's," Harry explained."He gave it to Dumbledore for safe keeping before Voldemort got him," Harry said this almost naturally, with only a slight hitch in his voice concerning the early passing of his father.Tem, however, didn't fail to notice the flicker of pain in his face.It was a look that was permanently embedded in his friend's eyes."Anyway," Harry tried to lighten the suddenly stifling mood in the room."It's great for sneaking around, going places you aren't supposed to."

Suddenly, there was a gurgling sound from the stall farthest away from them; something was coming out of the toilet.Tem turned swiftly around, looking for a place to hide, sure that they had been caught.He forgot the invisibility cloak in his hand.The gurgling sound turned to a very wet sobbing and a high-pitched woman's voice swearing revenge on the living.Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, as if ghosts rising from toilets were an everyday occurrence."Hello, Myrtle," he said simply.The blubbering immediately stopped, and a translucent young woman floated through the wall.

"Hello, dear," she said almost happily."It's been so long!I thought that you had forgotten about me.I'm so happy you came to visit!And who is this young man?" she asked, turning her attention to Tem.Harry shuffled uncomfortably, looking down at his shoes.

"Er…this is my friend Tem.We just needed an out of the way place to talk," at this, Myrtles face fell considerably."…And to see you!" he said quickly, recovering."Um…Tem's a first year, and I wanted him to meet you, since you're such a…er…_nice_…ghost, and all.But it's been a while since I've visited because, well you know the holidays and all, and it _is_ a girl's bathroom so we're not supposed to be in here…" he trailed off and looked sheepishly up at the ghost, who had a single silver tear running down her face.

"It's so sweet of you to think of me like that!" Myrtle burst into tears and floated up to embrace the boys in a hug.Tem felt as if he had been plunged into ice water."Thank you so much for visiting!Nobody ever thinks of poor Myrtle stuck in here all by herself.Nobody ever wants to be seen with poor old Myrtle." Her tears of happiness turned to those of bitterness."But don't worry.Someday I will exact my revenge on those who made fun of me.They'll never get away with it!I guarantee that!"With that, she stormed straight back to her stall, there was the sound of flushing, and she was gone. 

Harry turned to Tem."Sorry about that," he said."Myrtle's a little bit sensitive.She died in this bathroom and hangs out here a lot.That's why everybody avoids it.If you don't humor her a bit, she goes all to pieces.Anyway, I really wanted to talk to you."Harry found a seat the row of sinks, taking the first one.Tem noticed that he pointedly avoided the one in the middle.So he led himself to the third in the row, and sat on it.

"I'm really sorry about not telling you about my past this summer.It's all kind of complicated, and I just wanted somebody to like me for me, not hero-worship me.I don't really get off on the whole attention thing."

Tem nodded."I kind of figured that.It took me a while, but I got the whole story.I understand, don't worry about it."

Harry snorted."The whole story?From who?That kid from the robe shop?Nobody but Ron, Hermione, and me actually know the _whole_ story.Well, maybe Dumbledore, but other than that, nobody.It's too complicated, like I said.Almost none of the truth has actually gotten out to the school.Again, I'm sorry about the way I behaved on the train.I tried to pass it off lightly, but I just didn't really feel like explaining it all then."Tem shook his head.

"Really, it's _OK_!I don't care about your past, I just wish that I had known a little bit when everybody looked at me like an idiot when I claimed to be your friend and didn't know that you were famous.But I'm over that." Tem seemed to take a minute to think, obviously regretting his choice of words."Ok, I take that back.I _do_ care about your past.It'd be nice to know that somebody out there lives an interesting life."

Harry gave him a look that clearly said, "You have _no_ idea" and began his story.He told Tem everything from his first year and the Sorcerer's Stone to the Chamber of Secrets (including why he avoided the second sink) and the Polyjuice Potion, to Sirius and the Firebolt, and finally the events of the Triwizard Tournament and the duel with Voldemort of last year.

When he finished, he was out of breath and it was almost midnight."…And now you know the _whole_ story," he croaked, his voice starting to go.Tem was dumbfounded.He had never heard such an incredible story in his entire life.Tem and Harry parted ways, Harry with his mind finally at rest, having atoned for his crime against his friend, and Tem with his mind racing.He had a hard time getting to sleep that night.

\\\\\\\\\\\\A/N:I'm not sure if I got the location of the bathroom right or anything (was it on the third floor?) or the number of sinks, technical stuff like that.So please don't flame me for that kinda stuff.I had to try to remember (my dad left my copy of _Chamber of Secrets_ on the airplane!!Aaagghhh!)I know it was kind of boring, but it will pick up.

I'm only saying this because only one person reviewed the last part:PLEASE REVIEW!I'm kinda stuck as to where I'm going to go after this.Reviews make my fingers itch to type and my brain remember where I put things.


	7. Part 6-The Dream

A/N:Please review!Constructive criticism welcome, flames will be used to toast marshmallows.**IMPORTANT NOTE:THIS PART IS RATED PG-13 FOR DREAM VIOLENCE.IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, TURN BACK NOW. **

Summary:Tem has a disturbing dream.

Disclaimer:I own Tem, Alan, Alyssa, and Fay.J.K. owns everything else.

# Harry's Neighbor: Part 6

The Dream

_An eerie mist swirled about the yard.The inky blackness filled the space around him; the only light source came from the fire in Hagrid's cabin, only a few hundred feet from where he was standing.He looked longingly back at the castle, wanting nothing more than to be back in his warm common room with his friends and his journal, and was shocked to find it in ruins.There was a sign in front of it that said _**Abandoned.Keep out**_.He was too confused to be afraid of what this might mean._

_ _

_Cold pervaded everything; the Forbidden Forest loomed to the right, the lake to his left.He had no place to go.Tem shivered, tugging his cloak tightly around him, and turned his back on the demolished castle, toward the cabin.It was his only solace now.He ran towards the light, but the distance kept growing.He ran until he collapsed from exhaustion, and an overwhelming fear began to grow in the pit of his stomach.A voice popped into his head._Run_ it said, _Go now or you will die_.He forced himself onto his elbows and began a much slower, stumbling walk.The distance to the cabin kept growing.He could now only see it as a speck of light on the horizon, but he had to get there.There was something after him, and he could feel it getting closer._

_ _

_A huge black dog leapt from the shadows of the forest and ran towards him, growling, hackles raised and fangs bared.Tem screamed in terror as the dog grabbed the back of his cloak in his mouth, and started dragging him towards the cabin.He ignored the pain of rocks and dirt grinding into his side, concentrating only on remaining conscious.He realized that they were going very quickly.This time, he was making progress.The cabin came closer, and the light and warmth grew.The dog dropped him outside of the building and looked at him with urgency and sadness in his eyes._

_ _

_Tem was startled as it spoke to him."If you don't hurry, he will die and there won't be anything left.Please, hurry," it implored, and then ran back into the Forbidden Forest as suddenly as he had come.Tem watched him run into the forest and then turned towards the cabin.Where it had been standing was now a smoldering crater.The light and warmth that had been the welcoming glow from the windows was now coming from the dying embers of what had obviously been a devastating fire.Hagrid stood outside the cabin, back turned to Tem.His shoulders were hunched and shaking; he was crying. _

_ _

_He turned around to look at Tem, his large eyes spilling tears on a tiny bundle in his arms.Hagrid opened the bundle to reveal a crying infant with a large cut on its forehead.The giant suddenly took out a large knife from his moleskin coat and slashed the infant's throat, crying harder as he did so.The dead baby tumbled from his arms and landed in a pool of blood on the ground.It cried no more, and remained motionless.Hagrid looked up at Tem, who was shocked and scared to death of what he had just seen.The giant spoke with fear in his voice and disbelieving tears in his eyes._

_ _

_"Yeh've killed him," he shook his head and began to back away from Tem in fear."Yeh've killed him!He was supposed to be yer friend, and yeh've killed him!"In Tem's mixed horror and confusion of what just happened, he looked down.In his own hands rested the knife that had slashed the infant's throat.A trickle of blood escaped the blade and found its way to Tem's hand.From there, the drop of blood stained his skin and grew, spreading like poison through his skin, turning his entire arm a blotchy scarlet red.It looked like the fake tan from Hell.Hagrid continued to stare at him in horrified silence, only every now and then whispering, "He was yer friend…how could yeh…"_

_ _

_Tem dropped the knife, unable to take it all at once.The baby…Hagrid…the blood…it wouldn't wash off.He clawed at his hands and arms, and it wouldn't go away.It was as if the blood had been dyed into his skin.As the knife clattered to the ground, a green misty light began to permeate from its tip.It swirled brighter and brighter, a sickeningly bright color.Tem turned his head, doing anything he could to protect his eyes lest he go blind.Suddenly, in front of him appeared a set of glowing red serpentine eyes that just stared at him, inspecting him.From the light came a high-pitched, cruel laughter.The eyes seemed to dance with excitement.The laughter subsided to a menacing growl."You will do just fine, boy," the wicked voice cackled."Yes," it said pensively, "Just fine."Out from the swirling green mist, an arm appeared; the scaly, taloned hand was grasping a wand that pointed right at Tem."Avada Kedavara!" the voice cried.The green light intensified, and Tem suddenly felt as if he were being burned from the inside out.He screamed.The pain was so intense.He screamed again.He screamed until the pain was so much that he didn't even realize he was screaming anymore._

"Tem?Tem!_Tem, wake up!!_"He was finally jolted awake, cold sweat pouring down his face with the entire Ravenclaw house staring down at him.Apparently, he had woken them all up with his screaming.Alan, who had been the one to wake him up, looked down at him with concern, the sleep still fresh in his eyes."Hey, are you ok?I don't think that's your normal fluffy bunny, naked chick dream."Tem gulped, still staring wide-eyed around the room, the horror of the dream still fresh on his mind.A few people smirked at Alan's attempt to lighten things up, but most looked really worried about Tem.None more so than Fay and Alyssa, who had pushed their way to the front of the crowd to see their friend.

"I…I'll be fine.It was just a dream.Go back to sleep.Sorry," Tem murmured, embarrassed at the attention.He was still recovering and didn't want anyone around in case he started crying.People slowly and reluctantly began filing out of the room, casting concerned glances back in Tem's direction.In his daze, he caught snatches of conversation drifting amongst the crowd like, "…only his second day…" and "…must be homesick…" Soon, (though not soon enough) only the male first-year Ravenclaws and Fay and Alyssa were left.Fay sat on the edge of his bed and looked at him with sad eyes.

"Are you really ok?" she asked, timidly."I mean, we heard you shouting clear into our dorms, and those aren't incredibly close by.Do you think it had anything to do with your talk with Harry tonight?"Tem didn't say anything, but visibly paled.Fay just nodded."Ok.Just try and get some sleep.We'll see you at breakfast."She patted his comforter-clad leg reassuringly and left the room.Alyssa followed her, not saying anything, but tossing a comforting glance behind her as she left.

Finally, only the boys were left.Before Alan reached to blow out his candle and draw his bed curtains closed, he checked on Tem one more time."Are you sure you're ok?I could go get the head of the house," Tem shook his head vigorously.

"No, really.Thanks, but it was just a dream.Really.I'll be fine."Alan cast one more wary glance in his direction, but didn't want to say anything that might agitate his friend's already unstable mood.He silently extinguished the light and flooded the dorm with darkness.Tem lay there, pale and shaken in the dark.There was something off about that dream.The horror of it all was still fresh in his mind, but that wasn't it.He had had nightmares before.Nothing like this, though.You weren't supposed to feel pain in dreams.You weren't supposed to feel anything.You were always safe in dreams because that's all they were.Tem rubbed his hands together and shuddered as electricity shot through them.

He eased his head back onto his pillow, half wanting to go back to sleep, half afraid to.Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was that pair of glowing red eyes staring back at him.Finally, he sat up and resigned himself to a night of sleeplessness.He reached for his wand and, staring intently at its tip, he muttered a spell that Harry had shown him."_Lumos_," he whispered.A faint spark appeared at the tip of the wand, and then went out again.Tem grunted in frustration, the tried again."_Lumos_!" he whispered again, a little louder this time.He put all his will and concentration into it.This time, the tip sparked and began to glow faintly.It stayed lit.Sure, it wasn't the bright beam of light that Harry had produced, but it was at least something.It was comforting.And (though Tem didn't know it,) damn good for his second day.

He reached through his bed curtains to his backpack that lay yet untouched at the foot of his bed and took out his latest journal and a pen.Reading back over some of his most recent entries, he lost himself in the world of a few weeks ago.Everything had changed so much since then.It had only been two days, and yet it felt like he had been here forever.This was home.This was his future.If he could live through the night.

Tem set pen to paper for the first time since he had arrived at Hogwarts.He relived the train ride, the Sorting, the feast, and his first day of classes, including a condensed version of what Harry had told him that night.He stopped when he got to the dream.Finally somewhat calmed, he really didn't want to think about it again.While his body was no longer stained with blood, (that was one of the first things he had checked when he woke up) his skin burned slightly whenever he thought about the curse that had been thrown at him by that…thing.Tem shuddered just thinking about it.He decided that he needed to walk around a bit.Clear his mind.He ripped a page from his journal and scribbled a note to Harry.Tem peered out of the curtains at the clock that was hung at the far side of the dorm room; the hand was halfway between _Too Early_ and_ Time to Get Up. _He decided that he probably wouldn't get in trouble if he went up to the owlery now.

Slipping out of his pajamas and into his robes silently, so as to not wake his roommates, Tem stole through the hallway, into the darkened common room, and through the passageway.The coat of armor gave a disgruntled squeak as Tem nudged it awake.As soon as he had passed, he could hear a rusty metallic snoring disappearing down the corridor behind him.

On his way to the owlery, Tem lost his way twice and almost ran into Filch once while rounding a corner.The caretaker had eyed him disdainfully, but couldn't find anything punishable in getting up early to send an owl.Tem walked away without detention, but still slightly disoriented.He still wasn't quite used to all of the twists and turns and hidden passageways of the castle.By the time he had found the right tower and given the note to Gill to deliver, several students were up and wandering about the halls.He thought about going back to his common room and meeting his friends, but then realized he didn't know how to get back there.Instead, he followed a Hufflepuff fourth-year down to the hall for breakfast.

Harry made his way down to breakfast that morning in a great mood.He was away from the Dursleys, with his friends, back under the protection of Dumbledore and the new Defense Against the Dark arts teacher who he had yet to meet but hoped wasn't stupid or evil, and he had sorted things out with Tem.As he stepped off the marble staircase that led to the Great Hall, he passed by a group of third years that were huddled in conversation.He only caught a few snippets of their conversation, but it was enough to put him on alert."…Ravenclaw…" "…Woke up screaming…" "…First- year…" these were the words that reached Harry's ears as he slowed past the group.He thought momentarily about stopping and asking the group what they were talking about, but then decided to just talk to Ron and Hermione.Maybe they had heard something.

Plopping into a chair between his two best friends, he asked him if they had heard anything.Neither was aware of a problem, but it was only breakfast time; he'd probably find out soon enough.Harry became lost in thought, wondering if the troubled Ravenclaw had anything to do with his friend.He got his answer when a dark brown owl, which he recognized as Ogilvy, landed on the table and dropped a note in front of him.Harry set out a bowl of dry cereal for the owl to eat while he waited and opened the note.

Harry-

I need you to help me figure something out.When's the soonest you can meet me?Bring Hermione and Ron.

-Tem

Hermione raised an eyebrow as Harry passed the note to her with a troubled look on his face.Reading it over, she knew why Harry was worried."Yeah," she agreed."It definitely sounds like it has something to do with what you heard those kids talking about earlier.He probably just had a bad dream or something.You said you told him everything last night, right?"Harry nodded."Well, then.It probably had something to do with that.Don't be too worried."Hermione was right.Of course, Hermione was always right.About everything.Harry flipped the note over and wrote that they would meet him right after dinner that night in Myrtle's bathroom, then gave the note to Gill.It was about time.All of the cereal that the owl hadn't eaten was now strewn across the table and stuck in other people's hair.

Harry watched the short flight of the owl between the two tables.He was shocked as his eyes finally came to a rest on Tem.He looked awful.Tem was incredibly pale with dark circles underneath his eyes.He reminded Harry of Remus's condition after his monthly forays into the night.It was an altogether disturbing look, like the wearer, in addition to the pale exterior, had an invisible weight pressing on his shoulders.Harry knew that feeling all too well.He thought briefly of writing another note, telling Tem that they should meet earlier, but then the bell rang and Harry had to get to his first Divinations class of the year.He shuddered.

Tem finished dinner as fast as he could that night.He was anxious to talk to Harry about the dream, and also to get away from the stares and rumors that had been following him all day long.Somebody in Slytherin had spread one that he had wet the bed, and for some reason, the rumor just wouldn't die.When he got up to the bathroom, Harry and his friends hadn't arrived yet.Myrtle wasn't there, either.Well, at least that was something to be relieved about.He walked over to a wall adjacent to the door but cast in shadow, just in case Filch, Mrs. Norris, or any other authority figure happened to find their way in there.As soon as he sat down, the weight of his dinner began to sink in.That, combined with the previous night's lack of sleep began to pull on his eyelids.

_All he saw was darkness.Tem held his hands up in front of his face, realizing that he couldn't even see those.What he did realize was that there was something in his hand.He dropped it in surprise, and jumped back as a faint green misty glow began to emanate from the object.It became brighter and brighter, swirling around him, illuminating his surroundings.Tem perceived that the object he had dropped was a large, cruel knife with a curved blade and mysterious symbols inscribed on the handle.The next thing he noticed was a massacred infant lying in a pool of blood not far from the knife.Tem fought the urge to retch at the sight. _

_The glowing became more intense, and he was aware that it circulated only around him.The mist curled around his shoulders, arms, and legs, tightening and becoming solid.The translucent bindings began to lift him off the ground.Tem shouted and struggled, trying in vain to free himself from his invisible captor.Yet again, those horrible, malevolent red eyes manifested in front of him.They narrowed in disgust."Well," the venomous voice sneered."Look who's back.I had hoped to take care of you last night, but it seems you escaped.You can't elude me forever.I will always be here in your dreams, waiting for you.This time, you are mine." _

_ _

_A high-pitched giggle that Tem had only heard accurately reproduced in horror movies rent the air.The scaly, reptilian arm reappeared with a wand in its grasp.It pointed the wand directly at Tem's head and bellowed the curse."Avada Kedavara!"A brighter green light than that lifting and surrounding him shot through the air.As it hit, a million volts of electricity jolted through Tem's body.He screamed in pain, and then began to drop.The ground came faster and faster, and Tem silently prayed that the fall would kill him before the curse could finish burning him from the inside out.He hit the hard earth and once again, all he knew was blackness._

_ _

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\A/N:That's it for now!!Sorry for the slight cliffie.But, if that's what it takes to get you to review and keep reading, that's what I have to do.Hope you enjoyed it.If you did, review.If you didn't, _review_!!!Come on, people.Seriously, what do I have to do to get you to review, eh?Do I have to become one of those people who won't post unless they get so many reviews?Those people annoy the crap out of me.I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.Well, that's it for this week folks, tune in next week for "He Sees You When You're Sleeping" or, "The Night of No Winks".Come on, don't you ever watch Rocky and Bullwinkle?Honestly…


	8. Part 7-What Dreams May Come

A/N:Well, unhappy news here, folks:Bob decided to come for an unwanted business.(Yes, Bob is my writer's block.We have a close, personal relationship, though I don't like him very much.)I'm kinda at a loss as to where I'm going with this story right now, but hopefully I'll meet up with Joe (my inspiration) sometime soon.Thank you to all of you wonderful, marvelous reviewers.I love you all.I _finally_ figured out the secret to getting people to read the story:post at the right time to get it on the first page.So, thanks again, your reviews boosted my confidence a whole lot.Text in ** shows thoughts.

Summary:The plot thickens!(Well, at least it becomes a bit less watery, anyway)Tem's friends visit him in the hospital wing.He stumbles on a rather nasty discovery. 

Disclaimer:Tem, Alan, Alyssa, and Fay belong to me, along with a few other minor made-up characters you won't recognize along the way.If you do recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling, goddess of our time.I don't own anything worth suing for, so please don't.JThanks!

# Harry's Neighbor Part 7

What Dreams May Come

A soft red light filtered in through the blackness.Tem stirred, cramming his pillow over his head, trying to block out the light.He wasn't ready to surrender to the urge to awaken.The sleep…it had been so peaceful, so nice.And he was afraid of where he might be when he opened his eyes.The last thing he remembered before the peaceful sleep was the horrifying nightmare.What if that snake thing had done it?What if he was dead, and now he was in heaven…or elsewhere?These were too many possibilities for him to comprehend, to want to think about.

Slowly, reluctantly, Tem opened his eyes.The first thing he noticed was that this was _not_ his bed.The second thing he noticed was that everything was white.White linen draped over the window above his bed and from the ceiling, sectioning his bed off from the rest of a bigger room, white linen covering the bed, white pajama robes covering _him_.*Oh, God…* Tem thought.*I really am dead.What will Mum and Dad say?Their son, killed on his second day at wizard school, just like their friend was.They'll be devastated.And what about my friends?What will they think?* 

A stern yet motherly voice interrupted his thoughts."I hear movement in there.He must be awake.You may see him now, a few at a time.Why don't you three go first?"To Tem's everlasting relief, Fay, Alan, and Alyssa walked in.He wasn't dead.The girls gasped when they saw him; looking into a nearby mirror, he saw that he was extraordinarily pale and had deep black circles beneath his eyes.But he was alive.They rushed up and hugged him.

Alyssa filled Tem in on what had happened while he was 'out'."We were still at dinner after you took off to meet Harry when he and one of his friends came running down to the hall, screaming for Dumbledore.Nobody knew what was going on, but they left, and the next thing we knew, Professor Flitwick was telling us that you were in the hospital wing.We came up here right away.Other than that, nobody's been able to tell us anything.So what happened?"All three of them looked at him imploringly.Tem shook his head.

"I really don't know.I went up to meet Harry, but he was late, so I sat down against the wall.I must have fallen asleep.The next thing I knew, I was in the middle of that dream from last night.I…" Tem gulped."I died.Again.And then I woke up here.I don't know what's going on or what these dreams are all about, but I'm too afraid to go back to sleep."The curtains around his bed rustled, and a short, plump woman with gray hair bustled in and addressed Tem's friends.

"I think that you should go now," she said.When they tried to protest, she cut in."Professor Dumbledore is here to talk to the young man.I will be sending him out as quickly as possible.Templeton needs his rest, and there are other visitors who wish to see him," she said, her lips tightly pressed together as if one more visitor would do him in for good.Tem paled even further at the thought of what awaited him if he dared to go back to sleep.He tried to protest, but she shooed his friends out and left before he could say anything.

It was then that Headmaster Dumbledore himself swept into the small sectioned off area.Tem heard the lady muttering something under her breath about "patients being smothered".She clearly didn't like all of the attention Tem was receiving, but wouldn't say so in the presence of the headmaster.

Dumbledore lowered himself to his knees next to Tem's bed, grimacing in pain as he did so.When he noticed Tem's concerned expression, he smiled."Don't worry, Tem.It's just a side effect of getting old.Not even Madame Pomfrey has a cure for that."Then his expression softened even further, though his smile turned to a pensive frown."Now, I know it's not going to be fun, Harry can vouch for that, but I need you to tell me exactly what happened in your dreams.There could be real danger involved here, and I need your full cooperation."Tem nodded, more than a little awed by Dumbledore's presence.He pervaded this sense of…raw power, yet where the ego trip might have been was filled with kindness and understanding.A truly great wizard.There weren't too many of those around.

So Tem began explaining.First he gave a horrifying account of the first dream, then a detailed description of the second.This one, though shorter, seemed to be much worse than the first.When he finished, Dumbledore's face was etched with worry."Oh, dear," he breathed."This is much worse than I thought."Without further explanation to the comment, he conjured a piece of parchment and a quill and handed them to a bewildered and frightened Tem."I need you to draw that knife that you saw.Picture it in your mind's eye and draw every single detail that you can remember.It's very important that you recall it as accurately as possible."

Without trepidation, Tem began to draw, pausing every now and then and peering inward, trying to remember just what he had seen.When he was finished, he handed back a very detailed sketch of a cruelly carved knife, its wavy blade etched with evil magical runes and enchantments, the hilt carved to resemble a horrifyingly real snake's tail, culminating with a real rattle at the end of its wooden grip.Dumbledore visibly shuddered as the parchment was placed in his hands."Yes…" he said."I recognize this knife.Unfortunately, it is as I suspected, though I don't know why he chose you…" Dumbledore trailed off, not bothering to explain.He suddenly looked at Tem."I apologize.My mind tends to wander a bit.I believe I know what is afflicting you, though I don't understand why.I will ask Madame Pomfrey to give you a dreamless sleep potion for the next few days.That will keep anything from happening to you while we try to figure this out.You should take the rest of today and tomorrow to rest, and rejoin your lessons after that.I must take leave of you now."With that, he swept out of the room, robes fluttering behind him.In his absence, the room became very still, the light tone he had put over his heavy comments not lost on Tem.

Outside of his small sectioned off area, Tem heard Dumbledore speaking quietly to Madame Pomfrey.He couldn't make out any of the words, but the nurse's voice rose shrilly.She yelled at the headmaster, not caring who he was, and her tirade ended with a disgusted _humph_.Tem still got the sense that she had lost the argument.He then heard some steps echoing across the white linoleum floor and Dumbledore's voice again.This time, Harry's voice replied to it.Dumbledore again.This was getting interesting.Tem listened closer.The Headmaster's voice grew lower and his speech more urgent.There was a loud gasp.That would be Hermione.Dumbledore again.Silence.More footsteps, some growing distant, leaving, others coming closer.

Once again, the curtains tweaked open, but this time, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepped in.Hermione burst into tears at the sight of Tem.Ron snaked his arm around her shoulder and pulled her gently into his chest.He grinned uneasily."Don't worry about her…she's just a little emotional right now."Harry nudged Ron in the ribs and shot him a warning look and gave a small shake of his head.Ron nodded slightly in confirmation to whatever the silent conversation was between them.Harry stepped forward.

"We can't stay for long," he said.His voice was kind of weird.It was like he was talking to a grieving widow, all hushed and sullen."Madame Pomfrey says that you have had enough visitors for the day.We just wanted to see how you were."Tem had this panicky feeling rising up in his stomach.It had been there since he had woken up, but he was just now beginning to recognize it.Harry, Ron, and Hermione were just acting a little too solemn for a friend who had just become conscious again.

He hesitated in his answer."Thanks.I'm fine now.Are you sure _she's_ ok, though?" He asked, indicating Hermione who was still sniffling and sobbing into Ron's now soaking shirt.The redhead answered, guarded in his reply.He was hiding something.

"Well, she's just a little freaked.She found you, ya know?You were all just in the bathroom, hovering in the air with a weird green light about you, screaming.I think that scared her a little bit."His eyes were wide and guilty, the spastic comment hanging in the air.Tem was sick of his friends' attitude already, and more than slightly terrified that he had actually been hovering and it wasn't just in the dream.

"What's going on here?" he blurted out."Why is everybody treating this like a funeral home?_What did Dumbledore say to you that he can't tell me?!_"Harry stepped forward, not at all taken aback by the small outburst.He sat slowly on the edge of the bed and looked coolly at Tem.There was no emotion in his eyes.He had mastered the art of hiding it.

"You see, Tem, it's like this…" he said in a strangely calm voice."Voldemort tried to kill you in your sleep."

\\\\\\\\\\A/N:I'm really and truly sorry that this took so long to come out, and that it's so short.First of all, work has been hellishly busy (I'm working eight straight days this week along with school.I try to have a social life in there, too, sometimes.) and I just could not think of where I was going with this story.I have a little better idea so far, but as of yet, it's still kinda fuzzy.So bear with me for now, and I hope that the next part will be better, longer, and on time.Please review.You guys were awesome about that last time, and I really thank you for it.Keep it up!


	9. Part 8-Death and Relaxation

A/N: Hello again all

A/N:Soooooo sorry this took so long to come out.I had no idea where this was going until I finished writing this part.But now, I have a pretty good idea, so parts should be coming faster.I finally got myself a beta-reader:Elanor Gamgee is a writer and beta-reader on the staff of [sugarquill.com][1] (great place--I really recommend it!)She is absolutely wonderful, though I had to make corrections on the entire story; that's part of what made this part so late.This part isn't that long or great, despite how long it took, but it should be getting better soon.I have big plans for this!Anyway, enjoy and review!!!

Harry's Neighbor-Part 8 Death and Relaxation 

Tem's mouth went dry.He hadn't heard Harry right.No.He had to be mistaken.How can you die in dreams?Well, sure, you could die _in_ dreams, but you weren't actually _killed_.You woke up.But you didn't _die_.That wasn't supposed to happen.His mouth dropped open and he tried to say something, but nothing came out.Finally…

"B-but how?" he asked, not wanting to know the answer."They're just dreams.Really, really scary dreams, but still…" He looked around the room at his friends.None of them would meet his gaze.Hermione choked back another sob; she had finally gained control of herself, but the dam was threatening to break again.

Ron was silent, absent-mindedly trying to wipe his tear-soaked shirt dry.It wasn't working.Harry looked uncomfortable; it seemed as though he wanted to say something, but didn't know what.Tem supposed that this was because he had just told his friend that a psychopathic killer was after him in his sleep.Really, what did you say to something like that?

"W-well…" Harry stammered, filling the empty silence."Dumbledore couldn't explain much.He said it had something to do with a dagger, and that you should be watched over.Then he rushed out.I'm sorry, I really am.I wish I could tell you more…" He trailed off, not wanting to meet Tem's disbelieving eyes. 

The latest victim of the Dark Lord's wrath sat there, stiff as a board, on his bed, staring at the wall.Millions of thoughts raced through his mind.He couldn't take it all in.How?How could it all happen?The thought of his parents entered his mind again.They were still devastated over the loss of Becca, his mother's best childhood friend to the same evil wizard.How could he tell them everything that was happening?He could picture the letter home now:_Dear Mum and Dad,_ it would say, _Hi!How are you?Hogwarts is great; I've already made tons of friends.I even managed to turn my matches silver.They should be pins within the next day or so.By the way, I was almost killed twice so far.Hope you're doing well without me.Love, Tem_

He felt sick at the thought.How would he ever sleep again?Tem vaguely remembered as a kid watching the old American _Freddy Krueger _movies when his parents weren't around.It was about some Muggles getting attacked in their dreams by this insane wrinkly guy with knives for fingers.The situations were similar, except this time, it was real.And it was happening to him.

"Oh, Tem," Hermione's sorrow-filled voice snapped him out of his reverie."Tem, I'm so sorry.We'll work as much as we have to to find out how to stop this.We'll research day and night.I'm so sorry that you had to get caught up in our crazy lives."The tears burst forward once again and streamed silently down her face, but her voice remained steady.

Tem didn't know what to say.His friends felt it was their fault that this was happening to him.He really didn't think so.Madam Pomfrey stuck her head in through the curtains once again, shooting Harry and his companions a look that said they had been there long past the allotted time limit.With one last unhappy backward glance, the trio left in single file, wishing their friend a good rest.Tem didn't feel like having a good rest.He never wanted to sleep again.

That day and the next dragged by slowly.Tem sat in the hospital wing while his friends went to classes, reporting back during each break.Every now and then, he took a short nap, forced by Madam Pomfrey's Dreamless Sleep potion.He would wake again in a fit, sweating and struggling as if something held reluctantly at the back of his mind were trying to force its way up again.Tem knew what this was, and dreaded going to sleep even with the potion, for fear that even its powerful spell could be broken through his subconscious, freeing the malevolent entity to take over his mind.

At the end of the second day, Madam Pomfrey grudgingly released Tem from the hospital wing.He was instructed to go straight back to his common room and take the sleeping potion, so that he would be refreshed before restarting classes the next day.He returned to Ravenclaw, but disregarded his orders to go to sleep and decided to look for his friends in the common room instead.As he crawled through the passageway into the common room, several of his fellow Ravenclaws turned and eyed him curiously, though were too "polite" to say anything to him about what had happened.Instead, they turned to back to their half-whispered conversations, casting surreptitious glances every now and then in Tem's direction.

He sighed; he had been expecting this:people much preferred making up their own versions about what had happened to him than learning the truth.Actually, for that he was quite relieved.He didn't think he could take the horror and false sympathy that seemed to come with an attack by Voldemort.He really didn't know how Harry could cope with it on a day-to-day basis.As he walked towards his dorm room, he noticed Alan and the girlssitting off to themselves in a dark corner.They waved at him to join them.

Tem slouched into an overstuffed armchair and said nothing, waiting for the inevitable barrage of questions.He didn't have to wait long.Fay immediately set in, voicing the question that was on all of their minds."So?What's the verdict?Have you heard anything from Dumbledore?"Her tone was bright and airy, but a slight quiver in her voice and the wrinkle in her brow gave away the fact that she was much more concerned than she let on.It was here that Tem realized that he had to make a decision.Did he tell them the truth, or did he leave them to blissful ignorance?

He looked at each of their faces in turn, all three were staring at him with some measure of wide-eyed anticipation and anxiety.He then looked to the rest of the common room.Those that had been staring at him quickly averted their gaze and simply went back to pretending to study or whispering quietly to their companions.None of them seemed really to care what was happening to him; they simply wanted a good gossip.Tem turned back to those sitting in front of him.Again the question came to mind:Did he really want to endanger these people by taking them into his suddenly dangerous world? 

Then another thought came to his mind; not a question, but a piece of advice that his father given him a long time ago:"Choose your friends wisely," he counseled, "the true ones are hard to come by.And don't turn your back on those you do find, for those will always be there for you, whether or not you want them to."That was the deciding point.He gazed once more into Fay's glittering brown eyes, then Alyssa's pained gray ones, and finally Alan's icy blue stare, all three filled with concern, and realized that he had to tell them.He needed these people as his friends.

"Where do I begin?" Tem asked, breaking the heavy silence.He quickly related to them everything he had heard in the hospital room, concluding with the chilling truth of his dreams as delivered to him through Harry.The three sat there for a moment, as he had, trying to swallow the measurable amount of information given in that one little sentence:"Voldemort is trying to kill me."

All three responded immediately with a sharp intake of breath.Fay whispered, "Oh, my god," covering her mouth with her hands.Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes, but she smiled softly and reassured him that everything would be OK.

Alyssa just sat there, staring into space, no sign of emotion on her face.Finally, she met Tem's eyes and said, "What can I do?I'll always be here to help you."

Lastly, he looked to Alan, whose impassive face suddenly split into a grin."Ever see that Muggle movie, Freddy Krueger?"Tem took this as a good sign from all three and smiled, knowing he had made the right decision.

The next few days passed wearily by.Tem refused to sleep until all of his friends had gone to bed late at night.They, in turn, stayed up as late as possible, putting off slumber as long as they could to help their companion through this hard time.In those long nights, Alan, Fay, and Alyssa went from "the kid from the robe shop and his friends" to the closest friends he had ever had, barring Harry.

They swapped stories of their childhood between games of Exploding Snap and taught Tem everything they could about Quidditch without him having to see an actual game.He told them all about the Muggle world, and he, in turn, learned all about his companions.Fay was a pureblood witch, whose parents worked in the Miracle Division of the Ministry. (This was a division set aside for the new development in the form of Muggle memory charms.They specialized in charming Muggles to think that they had witnessed a spiritual event.)She was a very flighty person.She had fun wherever she went, and could laugh at almost anything.While to an untrained eye, she could seem rather ditzy and not all there, she was actually very bright and intuitive.

Alyssa was of mixed blood, her mother a witch Herbologist and her father a Muggle landscaper.She had grown up in the wizarding world, and was given a magical education from the day she was born.Her parents had established a giant greenhouse and ran it, selling to local magical nurseries.Her father learned the properties of all the magical plants, and was even better at growing some of them than her mother.They passed their love of plants and environment on to their daughter.Alyssa herself tended to be somewhat reserved until you got to know her, though she was quite witty and very sarcastic when she opened up.She was also an artist, and would draw on anything that was sitting in front of her. 

Alan was from a pureblood family, but had a fascination with Muggle movies.His mother worked closely with Arthur Weasley in the Muggle Division of the Ministry, and he had found an old television and VCR in the attic while playing with the ghosts one day.Alan had never had the same love of Muggles as his mother, though he found that he loved their moving pictures.The stories they wove were mesmerizing, and their attempt to portray magic laughable.He hoped one day to be able to integrate them into the Magical community, maybe even make wizard movies, too.Alan's nature was that of a comedian, using humor as a defense mechanism.He made jokes at everything, particularly when he (or anybody else for that matter) was upset.This made him a great person to be around when you were sad.

At the end of the week, most of Tem's arm and facial hairs were burned off from the numerous late night games of Exploding Snap.He was really tired, but happy for the first time since this whole "dream affair" had begun.While he would often find himself drifting off in class, he could always count on whoever was sitting next to him to give him a sharp jab to his side.By the end of the week, his side was well bruised, too.In spite of everything that was happening, Tem was determined not to get behind in his classes.On the contrary, once he was caught up from his missed days, he easily surpassed most of his class, finding himself doing exceptionally well in Charms and Transfiguration.In no time, his matches were pins, his feathers were hovering, and his locks were unlocking themselves.

That weekend was their first in the castle.While they were free to spend it as they would, the air outside was thick and gloomy.The rain showed no signs of stopping; even the wind was fiercer than usual.Tem found himself avoiding even the normally merry Great Hall, as the oppressive clouds on the enchanted ceiling were depressing him.Instead, he and his friends opted to spend the time in the library, polishing up for their first exam that was looming on Monday.Alan sat in the corner, quizzing Alyssa on her wand positions while Fay plugged herself at a table, pouring over her Charms text.Tem sat across from her, though instead of looking through his textbook, was wearily scouring the reference pages for any sign of the dagger from his dreams.He was flanked by Ron, Hermione, and Harry, who sat crowded around the table next to them with books piled high, all with the same objective:to figure out the dream.

Suddenly, Tem sat bolt upright, staring at a picture in a book titled:_Dreams, Prophecies, and Relics:A Look at History's Most Elusive and Dangerous Treasures. _Startled by his sudden movement, all six of his friends focused their attention on him."I've found it," he hissed, "I found the knife!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\Oooh-- the plot thickens!!Well, like I said, the next part should be better.Just a warning to you folks:try to brush up on your Tolkien before then!If you've never read Lord of the Rings before, A) What's wrong with you?!Those are the best books!!!And B) You'll be somewhat lost, but only on some background info; you'll still get the gist.I wouldn't do anything to confuse you way beyond hope.Hope you enjoyed this one; the next part will be out in a week or so.PLEASE REVIEW!!!

   [1]: http://www.sugarquill.com/



	10. Part 9-Sauron's Scimitar

HARRY'S NEIGHBOR-PART 9

A/N:Hey, guys!Sorry this part took ssssoooooo long.I think I actually beat my own lateness record.From now on, I make no more promises about when my chapters will be out, because I know I won't be able to keep them.This is partly so late due to the fact that it's spring, and I work in a plant nursery.I barely have time to eat with all the hours I'm working, much less write.Second of all, this chapter was done over two weeks ago, but my wonderful beta reader decided to go out of town!Oh, well.Part 10 should be out within the next few weeks; I've already got a great start on it.

Summary:**This chapter answers the questions on all your minds (and a few of your reviews):Why is Voldemort after Tem?Well, what are you waiting for?READ!Then REVIEW!!!!!Thanks!**

Disclaimer:I don't own J.K.'s characters or plotlines, and she doesn't own mine.

Harry's Neighbor Part 9 Sauron's Scimitar

The others crowded around Tem to stare at a sketch of a hideously carved dagger.Its curvy, razor-sharp edge gleamed cruelly from an unknown light source like an ebony flame set upon steel; the evil runes traced over the black blade and gray hilt seemed to glow of their own accord.The handle was hewn to resemble a grotesque eye, from the center of which a dim red light seemed to burn.

Tem began to read out the caption aloud:

"Sauron's Scimitar (pictured above) was forged long ago in the Second Age of the Sun by Sauron of Middle Earth, the most evil wizard the world has ever seen.The scimitar was made as a foe to the sword Narsil, wielded by Sauron's greatest enemy, Elendil of Westerness.Asartus was the blade's name, and it was long coveted by the Dark Lord as a token of his power, second only to the great Ring of Power that was the ultimate rise and fall of its master.

"The Scimitar, rumored to be lost or destroyed after the destruction of the One Ring and the fall of Mordor, has not been seen since.Its powers are very evil; the spells woven around it are some of the most ancient and dark magic in the world.It is said that the holder of the scimitar could enter a victim's mind while his defenses were down and he was vulnerable.The holder could then control the victim's thoughts and dreams, even going so far as to curse him from within. However, the connection with the victim was weak, which made even the most dangerous curses less effective, and therefore much more difficult for even a very powerful wizard to use to the greatest extent.Once the scimitar has been trained on one victim, it will not relent until they are dead.It can then move on to another victim.Unless destroyed by the unmaking of its master at the end of the Third Age, the scimitar is imperishable."

Tem looked up from the book into the worried faces of his friends.He, too, felt a sense of dread that he had not from the beginning of all this.Before, the enemy had simply been Voldemort.That prospect was scary, yes: unbelievably so.However, he had Harry and his friends on his side, all of whom had come through several battles with that very same wizard, if not unscathed, then at least alive.But this, well…this was something new.Or old, rather.Very, very, very old.And very evil: much more so than Voldemort would ever be. 

Harry looked Tem straight in the eye and said, "We have to go to Dumbledore."The others stood up together in unspoken agreement and headed into the dark corridor towards the Headmaster's office.

The day was much colder than usual; it felt as though winter was trying to invade the walls of Hogwarts prematurely.The drafty castle served only to enhance the lack of warmth.Rain gushed down the castle's stony ramparts, echoing into the towers.Dark, pressing clouds surrounded the castle on all sides, enhancing the gloomy mood that they all felt after the sight of the evil sword.The group found themselves hurrying past windows to escape the unfriendly sight of the clouds, instead of welcoming the much needed light that they gave.

Finally, they reached the gargoyle that signaled the entrance to Dumbledore's office.There, Harry murmured the inappropriately cheerful password (Acid Pops) and stepped into the chamber leading to the Headmaster's office.Nobody spoke as they were carried up the escalator-like steps and stopped outside the office.To their surprise, the door swung open by itself, and they stepped in.

The office, though familiar to Harry and the other veterans, awed the new students.The Sorting Hat and Godric Gryffindor's Sword were only two of the dozens of interesting artifacts in the room.A rock collection sat in an open case on an end table, which, on closer inspection, housed hundreds of tiny little people.They did not look at all pleasant, several of them with tiny devil horns and forked tongues.They started banging on the walls of their crystalline prisons and crying in high-pitched pitiful voices.Fay apparently felt bad for the little people, until she reached out to touch one of the rocks and it's inhabitant snapped its tiny, razor-sharp jaws at her.She squealed and jumped back, refusing to touch anything else in the office. 

At that moment, Dumbledore stepped through a door to their right, smiling grimly upon meeting his students."Well, well," he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "I am surprised that it took you this long to find the origins of the sword."The seven of them started, wondering what could possibly have told Dumbledore that they had found it."However," he continued, "I am not at all surprised that you found it.You are a very resourceful bunch.So, here we are; sticky business this is, really.Voldemort has finally gotten his hands on the most powerful artifact known to man.But, he has underestimated its power and extended it far beyond his reach, missing the intended recipient of the curse," here he looked pointedly at Harry, "and rebounded it on one of his close friends.How often must he make that mistake before he finally gets something right?"Dumbledore shook his head sadly then chuckled, in a rather grim, sedate way, and fell silent.Harry spoke up.

"So I was the one who was supposed to be having these dreams, and not Tem?" he asked quietly.The old wizard nodded slowly.

"Yes, I am afraid so.Voldemort tested the sword, I'm sure, upon lower beings such as rats and menial Death Eaters that were close by, but as far as I can figure it, he, I guess you could say, put some extra _oomph_ into the spell to make it travel long distance.Here it traveled too long, and missed, hitting the person closest to your thoughts.Unfortunately for Tem, he received the brunt of the spell."Everyone fell silent for a moment.A mixture of emotions was running through the crowd.Tem was scared, Harry was angry that his friend was made a victim in his place, and Ron, Hermione, Fay, and Alan pitied both of their friends.

Alyssa was pissed."So wait a minute.You're saying that the world's darkest wizard at the moment is not only evil, but incompetent?I mean _really_—you would think he would at least be able to shoot a spell at someone!A stupid sword didn't stop him from doing _that_ in the past!"Then she burst into tears.Tem, Harry, and the others looked at her in shock, not knowing what to say.

Dumbledore walked up and put a caring hand on her shoulder."I know it isn't fair, dear, that your friend has to be the target of this assault.You are right, though.I would rather that he was not 'shooting spells' at anybody, but at the moment, we have no choice, but to fight."

Alyssa looked up at him with red, puffy eyes and sniffled."But what can we do?" she asked pathetically, "I mean, Tem has this-this _thing_ in his head that won't…_can't_…stop attacking him until he is dead.It is on the inside, and we are on the outside.How do we fight a thing like that?"

"Have you ever heard of lucid dreaming?"Dumbledore asked.Only Hermione nodded her head.The old wizard explained for the rest of them."It is an old and very effective art that is used even by Muggle psychologists to help their patients get rid of nightmares.Through it, a person can use mind-strengthening techniques that would allow him to take control of his dreams and change them.It seems to me that if Voldemort can enter your mind through the path of the sword, why couldn't Tem enter the enemy's mind the same way?"The room collectively gasped.Tem's jaw dropped.

"Of course," Dumbledore said, after everybody had settled again. "It is very tricky to enter someone's mind in this way.As you could see, Voldemort tried to place the most concentrated killing curse there is on you, Tem, and failed…twice.This is because, first of all, I think he was not expecting to find you on the other end of the tunnel.Second of all, he doesn't know everything there is about the Scimitar.Then again," he said disappointedly, "Neither do we.I just within the last day or two came to these conclusions myself, which is why it has taken me so long to tell you anything.But now you know everything that I do about the subject."

The room was silent."Good lord," Fay whispered."This just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

Dumbledore's deadened eyes sparkled ever so slightly over the rim of his spectacles."Too right, my dear child," he agreed, "This is definitely beyond any of my reckoning.For right now, I feel that you should all go and gather your thoughts.If Templeton will just stay here with me, we have some further issues to discuss.The rest of you should go down to supper; I believe it was just set on the table."The others wanted to stay, but knew not to question Dumbledore when in this mood.They silently filed out, leaving the two alone. 

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Harry felt sick.He sat down at the great table with the Gryffindor emblem blazoned on the wall behind, and pushed the food around his plate.So it _was_ his fault.Voldemort wasn't after Tem because of something he had done, but because of his friendship with him.Just like his other friends, he had put him in danger; and now Tem's new friends were involved.It seemed that everything he did destroyed the life of another.And why?Because he was the Boy Who Lived.For that reason, everyone else had to die, or go to great lengths to stay alive.And now, by the way Dumbledore was talking, Tem would have to enter the mind of the enemy himself and do battle.It just wasn't fair.

He remembered what it was like last year, training for the Tri-Wizard Tournament.The long nights spent preparing, learning new spells, researching for hours.It was torture, pure and simple.Now Tem, a kid who until a month ago didn't even know about the wizarding world, was under attack, and would have to go through the same ordeal.He had almost no magical experience or training.He was brand new!Of course, Tem's teachers weren't the only ones who had noticed his phenomenal progress in the last week.Harry could practically see the natural talent flowing through his veins, you would have to be blind not to.But power or not, he was still inexperienced.He had yet to learn how to use his talent, to harness it to the fullest potential.

Suddenly, Harry laughed.Not out of mirth, but of realization.He was old.He was the experienced one.He was looking down on those younger than him, even though that was the exact thing that he hated as a confused eleven-year-old.Harry remembered his first year.Everybody thought that he was just a little kid:Harry Potter or not, everyone thought that he was too young to do anything against Voldemort.And he had proved them wrong.And now look where they were.He had proved them wrong for four years in a row, and now it was somebody else's turn.But it was his fault that someone else _had_ to prove himself.

Harry grunted in frustration.This was getting nowhere.Feeling sorry for himself, feeling sorry for Tem, feeling angry at the world in general.It just wasn't working.What had happened, happened, and it wasn't necessarily Harry's fault.So Tem was being attacked.He would help him through it.Just because Tem was young, didn't mean he wasn't capable of taking care of himself.So why did the nagging feeling that he was responsible keep eating away at him?Ron nudged Harry's arm.Harry started and looked up, realizing that the Great Hall was mostly empty.Dinner was over and everyone had gone up for the night.Harry's plate was still full, but stone cold.

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Dumbledore sat Tem down in a chair in front of his desk, but instead of sitting down himself, began pacing the room."Well, I am afraid I dropped quite a lot of information on you today.Are you going to be all right?"Tem didn't say anything; he just nodded and stared at his robe-hem."Good.I think I shocked quite a few people, even myself I must say, when I told of my suspicions that you might be able to enter Voldemort's mind.Caught up in the moment, I guess.It is only a theory, though, and certainly not one that you have to follow up on."

Tem suddenly looked up, shaking his head in disbelief."But what choice do I have?We all know that this thing can't stop attacking me until I'm dead.If I can't defeat it, I have to die.That would be OK if that would stop it from getting others, but it won't.And if it kills me, then what?Let it attack Harry?I can't do that."

Dumbledore stopped mid-pace, and looked thoughtfully at the small boy in the chair.His brown eyes were ringed with black circles, indicating the lack of rest he was getting even with the aid of the sleeping draught.The Headmaster shook his head and sighed.*How did you ever get placed in Ravenclaw, my dear boy?* he thought.*You have bravery to match at least Harry, if not more.Will you now stand up to the test?*

Out loud, he said, "Well, that is only one of our choices.We really do not have that many, though.We can tutor you in some advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts courses in addition to teaching you the lucid dreaming techniques, should you ever need either.You are not under any obligation to use them, to stop the dreams or enter the Enemy's mind, or anything else.That was just speculation.Our other option is to simply keep you on the sleeping potion until we can come up with another option.It isn't much, but it is hope.What do you think?"

Tem's eyes dropped back to his robes at the piercing glance of the older wizard.Looking at the wringing hands in his lap, he answered in a small, frightened voice, "I will learn how to fight him.There really is no other choice.I can't let Voldemort attack more people if I can help it.I can't risk my friends, especially Harry.If I die, then at least he can fight for the rest of us."

Dumbledore put a hand on Tem's shoulder, and Tem looked up.Dumbledore's lips twitched in a smile, and he hoped that the small boy before him could see the pride in his eyes as he spoke."Then we shall begin training immediately.And Tem, I just want you to know what you are doing is incredibly brave.Not many would stand up to this challenge like you.I understand you are scared, and I don't blame you.I truly admire you."

Tem just shook his head."I'm not brave, I'm just doing what has to be done.But thank you.I'll try not to let your or my friends down, but I can't promise anything."Dumbledore nodded, and told Tem that he could leave, scheduling training to begin the next day after classes.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\Well?!?! What'd ya think?Tell me the truth!Or lie if you want, but either way, do it in a review!


	11. Part 10-A Candle in the Mind

Harry's Neighbor-Part 10

A/N:I'm not even going to try to make an excuse for the lateness on this, because there in none.Really, I had this part done at least two weeks ago.I guess you could just call it laziness.Just be patient with me for the time being.I just started summer school, two swim teams, and a new job.Can we say "over-achiever"?Or at least "most-likely-to-raise-her-blood-pressure-to-unhealthy-new-levels-very-soon"?(Did that make any sense?)Oh, well.I'm past the point of making sense now.Just read, and enjoy, this part is somewhat slow, with an extremely annoying cliffie at the end.I know, you hate me, whatever.Just review, and have a very nice day.

Disclaimer:I don't own Harry, or any of J.K.'speople or places or whatever, and she doesn't own any of my fabulously brilliant characters, mmmkay?

Summary:Tem gets more immersed in the world of defense.

** **

**Harry's Neighbor-Part 10**

A Candle in the Mind

The following weeks were filled with extra classes for Tem.Training day and night, he barely had time to eat.He really didn't mind this, however; all of the work kept his mind off of what might happen if he didn't train.While the constant fear of death plagued him, he began to forget what life was like without it.The precautions and training became ingrained in his very being, and he didn't know what he would do without them.At nights, he stayed on the sleeping draught.Tem found that he was sleeping much better lately; all of the exercises wore him out so that he fell immediately asleep every night.He didn't even feel the horrible presence in his sleep that he used to anymore.He was able to rest better knowing that he was doing something to protect himself and his friends.

His nights, the time between classes, and his weekends were spent with Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, learning new spells and defenses that were far beyond what most kids his age were doing.Dumbledore had sped up the teaching process, and in a matter of months had caught Tem up to the fourth year students in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.His schedule was changed so that he now attended class with the fourth year Ravenclaws, who happened to share that class with the Gryffindors.It would change again in a month or so, when he completed that training and moved up to fifth year.The plan was to have him finish through seventh year by the end of second term.

Most of the other Ravenclaw students knew nothing of what was going on.The news of Tem's advanced placement in Defense Against the Dark Arts class spread like wildfire among the house that was so prided on its intelligence, but nobody knew why, other than the fact that he was obviously equal to the task.A few congratulated him, a few were jealous and snubbed him, but most of them just left him alone.The news of his weird dreams had run its course and few people mentioned them anymore, much less attributed them to his extra work in defense. 

In addition to defense spells, Tem practiced mind-strengthening techniques ranging from meditation to telekinesis.It had been difficult at first, but now he could meditate for hours on end, visualizing and sustaining pictures of objects in his mind, and was almost able to float a feather without a wand.For now all he could do was push it around a bit.Dumbledore now had him working on controlling the elements with his mind.

Late one night in early December, he lay alone in a remote corner of the Ravenclaw common room, chin in hands, staring deeply into the flame of a white candle, appearing to be lost in thought.He had been there for quite a while, and the candle had burned down to almost nothing but a large wax puddle, but the flame was tall and dancing.

A dark figure padded silently up behind Tem and regarded him for a moment, before emitting a small cough to let him know she was there.Tem jumped slightly, and the candle flame sputtered out.He whisked his wand out from under his robes, muttering "_Lumos_" in the process and pointing a bright beam of light into the face of a startled Fay.

Sudden recognition dawned on Tem, and he toned down the intensity of the charm.The glaring beam of light was dimmed and no longer pointed in her eyes."Sorry, Fay," he said, voice betraying his fatigue."You just startled me.What are you doing up, anyway?"She shrugged, and sat down beside him.

"Couldn't sleep.It's nearly two a.m._What_ are you doing?" she asked, eyeing the puddle of wax on the floor.

"It's this meditation thing that Dumbledore has me doing.He's trying to teach me how to control things with my mind, starting with the basic elements.Once you get those down, just about everything is made of one of those elements, and that makes it a lot easier to move on.Fire is supposedly the easiest element to control, so he's started me out with a small flame.I've been working with this stupid candle for weeks, and really only tonight was I ever able to accomplish anything.It's easy enough once you get the hang of it.Do you want to see it?"Fay nodded vigorously.

"Hold on," Tem paused for a moment, plunging his hands into the depths of his robes, finally producing a half-melted candle."I was practicing on this one last night, and I got frustrated and quit.I guess I forgot about it."He stuck it down in the center of the almost-cooled wax pond in front of him and lay down directly in front of it; chin resting in hands as before.

"Check this out," he said, and then seemed to tune her out and began staring deeply into space.His eyes grew wide and his attention seemed to leave the room; Fay would have been surprised if he had heard her cough this time.Suddenly, to Fay's delight, she heard a small _fwoomp_ noise, and a new flame popped up on the candle stump, lighting their corner of the room with a soft glow.Tem smiled, then concentrated on the candle again.He made the flame shrink until it almost snuffed itself out and then suddenly rise again until it almost consumed the wax base.He split the flame and then there were two dancing, side by side.He split the two again and made four tiny flames move about in a circle, weaving in and out, growing and then shrinking, dancing from side to side.He turned each one of the flames a different color one a sparkling gold, another deep purple, the third a gleaming silver, and the fourth shimmering green.The flames then rose tall, and twisted themselves together, forming a multi-colored braid effect, and then all at once seemed to melt together into one normal little blaze again just before it shrunk and blinked out all together.

Fay was deeply impressed.Tem, who had remained tense and rather not-all-there during the little display, let his breath out and relaxed a little; his effort seemed to have taken a lot out of him.His chin remained in his hands, and he appeared to be asleep, until he spoke."Wow, I've never done that before," he muttered thickly, as if in a dream, and then fell back into his light doze.

After a few moments with no sign of him moving, Fay reached over and laid her hand on his shoulder.He jumped lightly, like he tended to do in class when he fell asleep, and seemed suddenly awake again, standing up and stretching."Well, that was interesting.I think I'll go up to the dorm now.G'night."He left without waiting for Fay to answer. 

"That was just weird," she said to the empty room.

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As Tem walked the corridor to his dorm that night, he thought of the strange way he had left Fay.He didn't know why he left that way.Heck, he really hadn't known what to say to her, just that he had _really_ wanted to impress her with the candle trick.And it had worked.Somehow, he had managed to pull a bunch of colors from somewhere and make the flames start to dance.But how?That was the main thing.He had stayed up very late every night for the past three weeks just trying to get the flame to do something: anything_, _really.And then, all of the sudden, it just _clicked_ tonight.Before Fay had come down, though, all he had been able to do was conjure a small flame and hold it, making it rise and fall occasionally.Maybe it really was just easy to control once you got the hang of it.But he felt there was something more than that.

When he reached his room, he let himself in softly, so as to not wake the others, just like he did every night.He really didn't think the others knew how late he stayed up most of the time.He had learned to function on a very little amount of sleep in the past few months; three to fours hours a night usually sufficed.On the dressing table next to his bed, he found a freshly brewed Dreamless Sleep potion courtesy of Madam Pomfrey.His nose wrinkled at the mere thought of it, and he decided he just wouldn't go to sleep that night, and would pour the potion out the window in the morning.It had worked in the past.

In spite of the extreme fatigue he had felt after the candle experiment, he now felt quite awake and pulled out his latest journal and a pen.The pen felt strange to him now.After all those months of using a quill non-stop, it felt oddly heavy and strange not to have to balance an inkbottle while sitting in an awkward position.Though wizards tended to frown on Muggle pens, Tem somehow felt that quills didn't quite suit his journals.These pens connected his Muggle past and his Wizard present and helped him feel at home somehow, strange though it may seem to those that weren't extremely sleep deprived.

Barely pausing to think, Tem began to write:

Dear Journal,

Well, Dumbledore has me working harder than ever in my DADA classes.I'm working day and night, every chance I get.Tonight we focused on the Banishing Charm.I had a little trouble at first, but then got pretty good at it, especially when Harry and Ron started throwing cushions at me from all sides.Everyone is amazed at how fast I'm learning all this stuff, but it seems to come pretty naturally.I have this sneaking feeling that Dumbledore might want me to start going without the sleeping potion soon.While this might be a relief (I really hate the stuff) it's really scary to wonder what might happen if I can't control my dreams.What if I can't be as good as everybody seems to think I am?Will I be killed this time?Or the next time?And what then?Will Harry be killed?Or will Voldemort, being the evil git he is, miss and hit another one of my friends with the curse?

These are the thoughts that have been going over and over in my mind lately.The only thing that seems to get my mind cleared is the meditation I've had to do recently.Tonight, I finally got the flame to move.You know, the candle one I've been griping about for the past two weeks?And boy, did it move!I even made it dance and change colors with my mind.I don't know how; I really don't.I just wonder what else I can do.Fire is supposed to be the easiest element to control.I wonder what Dumbledore has up his sleeve now that I've mastered this.Or maybe I can keep quiet and just practice on this for a while.I found the flame exercise quite relaxing; I almost went to sleep after I had finished!

Well, the end of the term is coming soon, which also means Christmas Holiday.I should be happy, but Mum and Dad are pressuring me to come home for Christmas.Dumbledore and Harry seem to think that I should stay here for my own well-being.To be honest, I really don't want to leave.It would be nice to just stay here with all my friends, not to mention reassuring if I could continue my lessons.I still haven't told my parents about the whole Voldemort affair.They were very happy to hear that I was placed in advanced DADA classes, but that was as far as I told them.I don't want them to worry about me, even if they have a right to.After what happened to their friend, I'm really afraid that they'll take me away from Hogwarts and not let me come back.

To get out of going home, I tried to make the excuse that I wanted to stay with Harry over Christmas, because he has no family and all, and you know what Mum has the cheek to do?She invites him over!!What am I supposed to say to that?She wants an owl back soon (preferably tomorrow) saying whether or not he can come.I still have to talk to Harry about it.Maybe I should just tell her that Ron and Hermione are staying, too, and they don't want him to leave.Of course, with my luck, she'll just invite them over, too.This just isn't fair.I mean, it's not like she knows it or anything, but it is my life on the line here.Parents are so unreasonable.

I really need to keep training.As I get higher up, the lessons take longer for me to learn.I finished "First Year" in about three weeks.After that, Second Year was about four, Third Year five, and now I'm just starting what I guess you would call Fourth Year.I want to be almost finished, if not completely by the beginning of next term, so that I can have plenty of time to finish through Seventh Year.I don't know when I'm supposed to start "experimenting" on my dreams to see if this training is actually working, but I think it will be after Sixth, maybe even Seventh Year.I really don't know what I'm going to do next year if I finish all seven years this year.I'll have to add that to my mile-long list of _Things to Ask Dumbledore_. 

Reading back over this, I realize just how desensitized I've gotten to this whole Voldemort thing.Well, maybe not _desensitized_, but I certainly don't sound terrified, now do I?Truth is, I'm scared to death.I'm just used to the fear.It has become a part of me, just like Hogwarts, and Harry, and Fay, and Alan, and the suit of armor guarding the Ravenclaw entrance.It is a thing to live with, but not like, just like Snape.I'm so sick of being afraid all the time.I'm so sick of having to be constantly on guard and training non-stop.I just want to go to sleep without a stupid potion, and without worrying that I might get killed.Any moment, the dreams could come back, and I might not be ready.Oh, no, there I go again.I just need to be prepared, and I don't think I can do that while staying home over break, but I also can't explain it to my parents because I know what their reaction would be.Most wizarding families _know_ that Hogwarts is the safest place in the world to be, but my Muggle family just wouldn't understand.They are already worried about me going off to a strange school where they can't see me all the time.

If I could sigh on paper, I would.Damned if I tell them, damned if I don't.Damn.Well, this is something I'm just going to have to figure out later today.I just noticed that the sun is almost up, so I guess I should start wrapping up.Maybe I can get to the showers before the rest of the house wakes up.Maybe that will wake _me_ up a bit.I can barely keep my eyelids propped up as it is, but I guess I have to live with it for the time bein

Tem's head, which had been nodding considerably, dropped unceremoniously onto the page with the unfinished sentence.As the sun rose higher in the sky, Tem fell deeper into sleep, the untouched sleeping potion sitting stale and devoid of magic on the dressing table beside him.In his head, a dark mist began to rise, and Tem began to dream for the first time in several months…


	12. Part 11: Death and Resurrection

A/N: OK, I'm trying this again.  Part 11 hasn't come up the last THREE times I've posted!!!  AAARRRGGHH!  Please excuse the random slashes in the middle of some of my words. I did not put them there and have tried everything to get them off. (I'm probably not supposed to be doing this, but…) for a really good website where you can see this story posted with all of the formatting it's supposed to have (and a HP website that really doesn't suck in the least) go to www.sugarquill.com. Thanks! Enjoy! Review!!!

Part 11-

Alan slept peacefully in his soft down duvet, the outside world blissfully blocked by the Ravenclaw Blue velvet drapes cascading over his four-poster bed. He stumbled through a pleasant dream, lifted by perfumed clouds of many different colors, caught by one as another vaporized beneath him. Voices floated through his peaceful little world, softly beckoning him like the Sirens' call. Bewitched, he felt himself flying without the aid of broomstick or cloud, wafting through the breeze like a lighthearted feather toward the enchantresses' voices. The calls became louder, more seductive as he stumbled closer. They filled every one of his senses, pricking every nerve ending with anticipation. 

At last he came to the entrance of a glittering cave, from which the voices seemed to be flowing. A soft golden glow emanated from the entrance. Alan felt himself flailing his limbs, struggling against the soft current of air, trying his hardest to get to the entrance faster. His heart raced as he drew nearer and nearer, the Sirens' Song filling his entire being. Finally, it was there; it was tangible. His heart leapt as he entered the cave, the golden glow surrounding him and the song pulling him closer in. His heart then plummeted as the atmosphere changed completely, the golden glow becoming a sickly green and the song turning to a deadly shriek of horror.  The gentle breeze that had been carrying Alan suddenly disappeared, leaving only stale, frigid air.  Alan fell.  

He landed awkwardly on the hard ground of the cave, and ignoring the pain, swiveled his head around, trying to find the cause of the ghastly noise. It was then that he perceived his friend, Tem, kneeling on the floor of the cave, surrounded by the pale glow of what could only be the Cruciatus curse.  A giant reptilian figure stood over him, taunting him gleefully as his friend writhed in pain.  "So, boy," it cackled, "Where are your friends now?  Where is the famous Harry Potter to save you?  If he was such a hero, or even a _friend,_ he wouldn't have let this happen to you.  Don't you find it ironic that you are here, and he is sleeping blissfully unaware, and not caring that anything is happening to you?  But don't you worry, boy; I'll kill him as soon as I have finished with you.  _Avada Kedavara!_"

There was nothing he could do; try as he might, Alan couldn't will his body to move. He felt a scream rise up in his throat, and heard over his friend's horrified shrieks his own voice calling Tem's name. 

The green light disappeared, and Alan woke up, covered in sweat. He realized it was just a dream. And then he realized that that didn't necessarily mean anything. Alan threw aside his covers and leapt out of bed, tripping on his drapes along the way. 

Vaguely, he registered the fact that the sun was high in the sky, the birds were chirruping, and a pure, fresh layer of snow had fallen overnight, leaving the world looking crisp and new. Oh, how cruel nature was. The rest of the first years were gathered around Tem's bed, and for the first time, Alan realized that the screaming hadn't stopped with his dream.  A short, red-headed boy, Oakley, had pulled back the curtain to Tem's bed, and Alan saw his friend struggling against an unseen force, his face contorted in pain, that sickening green light surrounding him. All Alan could feel was panic and anger towards his dorm mates. He turned to Kevin, a tall sandy-haired boy who was standing dumbly by, not doing anything but staring, and said through gritted teeth, "Go and get Dumbledore. Go as fast as you can, and don't let anybody, even Filch, stop you. You hear me?" Kevin nodded, his eyes wide and fearful that something more than he might have guessed was going on. Without another word, he bolted out of the room as if a Hungarian Horntail was after him. The rest of the boys looked fearfully at Alan as he shouted, "Give him room! Stand back! Let me in!" 

They scrambled hastily away as Alan came bounding through and leapt to his friend's bedside. He grabbed Tem's shoulders and tried to shake him awake. Alan was horrified to feel the heat pervading Tem's skin; it burned his hands, but he refused to let go. "Tem!" he shouted. "Tem! Fight him! Don't let him win! Fight him! Wake UP!!!"   Tem's back arched as a shock wave of pain struck him and the green light intensified.  His body gave a violent shudder, and then lay sickeningly still, the strangled cry dying from his lips.

Alan desperately shook his friend, trying to wake him, screaming his name while the other first years stood dumbly by.  He wasn't breathing.  Alan checked Tem's pulse.  If there was one, he couldn't feel it.  It was then that Alyssa and Fay burst into the room, hastily adorned bathrobes draped over their shoulders.  Alan could see the horror and dread that crept over their faces as they looked at Tem's deathly still body, but he refused to give up.  His mind flickered back to Charms class, to a spell they had used to wake an unconscious person.  Quickly, he dove for his wand and shaking, pointed it at Tem and concentrated his entire being on that one spell.  "_Ennervate!_" he yelled, and a bright white beam shot from his wand.  Tem's body arched slightly as the pure white light encased and overtook what was left of the green tinge, and then he lay still again.  

For one excruciating moment, nothing happened.  Then, slowly, Tem's eyes opened groggily; first one, then the other.  His face was shockingly pale, and his lips were an unearthly shade of purple.  He looked…dead.  But he wasn't.  Relief broke over Alan like a wave.  

Tem drew in a shaky breath, rolled over, and retched over the side of the bed.  The girls laughed out loud with relief.  Alan looked over at Alyssa, who had a huge grin on her face, despite the fact that the tears were running freely.  He walked over and hugged her, murmuring that everything would be all right.  

Dumbledore entered then at a run, blue robes swishing behind him.  Kevin followed.  "Is he all right?" were the first words out of the headmaster's mouth.  The three standing by the bed nodded mutely, and parted ways so that the older wizard could get in to see Tem.  By then, Tem's breathing was mostly normal, if still a bit panicked, and he was looking around in confusion at his surroundings.  Alan looked at him again, over the headmaster's shoulder.  He realized now how bloodshot, almost demonic-looking, Tem's eyes were; it looked as if every blood vessel in them had burst.  These bore a stark contrast to Tem's deathly pale skin and dark brown hair.  The next thing Alan noticed was the quiver in his purple lips.  It was an altogether startling appearance, and he had to wonder if his friend would ever be the same again.  

The trio watched as Dumbledore placed his hand on Tem's forehead and whispered a spell:  "_Relaxo Evigilo_".   Tem's entire body visibly relaxed, though he looked a little more alert and less shaken.  The headmaster sighed wearily, and calmly ordered all of the first years out of the room with the exception of Alan.  At the girls' disappointed looks, he promised that they would be kept fully up to date on all that was happening.  Alan watched as they reluctantly left the room.

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          Fay and Alyssa wandered into the common room with the rest of the first year boys.  Several of the students from other years who had come to witness the spectacle had drifted back to their dorms to get ready for classes, but the boys were locked out of their dorm, so they sat by the roaring fire and frantically discussed the morning's events.  The girls simply opted not to return to their dorms, where the other girls would just pelt them with questions.  Alyssa and Fay had limited who and what they talked about in their dorm room when they found out that most of the rumors spread about Tem and Harry had stemmed from the other girls' eavesdropping.  Instead, they situated themselves in their usual secluded corner, Alyssa curled up in her favorite beat-up green beanbag, and Fay in an old, ratty, overstuffed chair, body twisted with her legs dangling over the arm.  Neither said anything; both studied their laps with fervor never before experienced.      

         When they looked up at each other, both had tears in their eyes.  And then they burst out laughing.  Hard.  "He almost died!" Fay said between gasps, the tears running freely down her face.  Alyssa snorted with laughter.  "I think he did." They laughed harder.  They sobbed harder.  "In fact," she continued, "If it weren't for Alan, we'd all be dead!  You-know-who would have killed us all!"  The laughter and sobs wracked their bodies.  They clutched their sides to keep from bursting.  Tears of relief, joy, sorrow, depression, frustration, confusion, and anger mixed and mingled together until neither of the girls could tell them apart.  When they couldn't laugh or cry any longer, both just sat in silence, the occasional tear or giggle slipping out.

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    Professor Dumbledore was worried.  More worried than he had been in many, many years.  As he watched the two frightened boys from beneath his long, snowy eyebrows, he could not help but doubt the strength of their cause.  Just that morning, right before Kevin had burst into his office, the distraught headmaster had received two owls.  One was from the new Minister of Magic, Arthur Weasley.  When Minister Fudge had died, the government was in chaos and, not at all surprisingly, Arthur stepped naturally into the leadership role.  The result was a much more stable and accepting Ministry, willing to work with Dumbledore.  All of the bad seeds, namely the people that Harry had named at the end of the tournament last year, had been ousted and gone back to their evil leader, failed as spies.  Many of them were reported dead soon after.  

Arthur's letter contained the sad and discouraging news that some radical leaders among the giants had coerced the rest of their race into breaking the treaty that Hagrid and Madam Maxime had worked so hard for.  Group by group, they were going over to the Dark Side.  The other was from Sirius Black, regretfully explaining the untimely death of Mundungus Fletcher, fellow Auror and spy against the Dark Side.  He had died with the Dark Mark hovering over his body.  

News in the _Daily Prophet_ of late had also been less than encouraging.  The Dark Mark had been spotted a great deal lately.  Every day there was news of Dark activity building.  Though the students were not aware, extra protection had been put up around the castle, and several Aurors were always on duty around the grounds, but it didn't seem like it would be long before Hogwarts was no longer completely safe.  

Dumbledore sighed.  And now there was this.  The safety of the Magical World once again rested on the shoulders of a single unfortunate boy.  One who had almost been killed the night before.  "Please, Tem," he begged once again, "Please.  I need you to tell me what happened.  I need to know so that I can help you."  The boy simply curled further into the fetal position and shook his head against the pillow.  The headmaster sighed again.  "Tem, I know this is difficult for you, but we've been through this before.  You will feel better once you talk about it, and you will help us to understand what we need to do."  

There was a long silence during which Tem closed his eyes.  Dumbledore was beginning to think he had gone to sleep when the boy finally spoke. 

 "…There was a cave," he began hesitantly, his voice trembling.  "I don't know how we got there.  It started out like…like it always does…the cabin, the knife, the baby, Hagrid.  But this time, it was different." He opened his tear-filled eyes to meet Dumbledore's.  "I did it, professor.  I did it.  I controlled the dream.  I grabbed the knife from Hagrid before he could kill the baby, and…and then I thought it was going to be all right…that it would end.  But then…then…" he broke off and cast his eyes down, a small sob escaping his lips.  "Then, _I used the scimitar_.  I don't know how.  But I was in His mind.  Oh, gods…the hate…the hate…it was too much.  It wasn't long before he felt me there, and then he had me.  There was _nothing I could do_.  And then…and then we were in this cave.  And…and I lost control.  I tried to fight, I really did, but nothing would work against him.  And then he cast a spell…and it hurt so, so bad.  And he laughed.  He just laughed."  Tem broke off, tears streaming into his pillow.  

If it was possible, Dumbledore's face became even graver.  "Tem," he spoke quietly, placing a reassuring hand on the young boy's shoulder.  "I'm very sorry that you had to go through that.  Voldemort is an extremely powerful foe, and like Harry, you did better than most simply by coming out alive.  You cannot be angry with yourself for not defeating him this time.  You will have to keep training and reliably use the sleeping potion.  _No skipping nights_.  Your rest right now is imperative.  I know it will be difficult, and maybe very painful, but I hope that you can tap into this experience and use it in your training."  

Tem nodded with trepidation, his head movement almost imperceptible against the pillow.  "What about Christmas?" he asked, his voice hoarse from crying.  "My mum wants me to come home for the holiday, and I've tried to talk her out of it, but she insists.  I have to keep training here."  

"I will take care of your mother," Dumbledore said gently.  "Now get some rest.  Mr. Llorac, if you could join me in the hallway for a moment please."  The headmaster stood up and strode purposefully towards the door.  Alan jumped up and ran after him.  Tem didn't make any sign that he noticed this going on at all.

As they reached the entrance to the common room, Alan stopped the headmaster.  Dumbledore looked at him meaningfully, as if he had been waiting for the boy to say something.  "Professor, I had a dream too."  Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly, though he smiled softly, as if to acknowledge that he had already suspected it.  "I dreamt that I was having my own dream…I mean, I _was_ having my own dream, when somehow, I think I floated into Tem's dream.  I saw the cave and You-Know-Who and Tem and heard what they were saying and saw You-Know-Who put theCruciatus curse on him and gods, it was terrible.  And I thought that it was just my own dream, but when I woke up, Tem was screaming and everybody was standing around staring, and nobody would help him."  The thought seemed to enrage Alan, and he spoke more and more forcefully.  He paced up and down the hall, gesturing wildly as he tried to drive his point home.  Alan looked not unlike Mr. Weasley during one of his rants.  "Not a single stupid prat in our dorm would help him.  They just stood there gaping like fish and he almost died.  Why are people so stupid?  Can't they tell when somebody is in pain?  Gods, Ravenclaw is supposed to be the _smart_ house!  Do they just not care about anything but themselves?"  Alan's rage peaked.  "I am so sick of this house!  I'm so sick of these people's whispers and giggles every time Tem or Alyssa or Fay enters a room just because we have something to do with the scary floating dreams.  Tem is an outcast because he is better than everybody at Defense Against the Dark Arts.  We're outcasts because we're his friends.  Do they not teach acceptance in any of those books those gits read?  I just want it all to be over with!  I just want everything back to the way it could have been if none of us had ever met Harry Potter!"  Alan looked wearily at Dumbledore and seemed to deflate.  "I'm sorry," he said, much more calmly this time.  "I'm sorry.  I'm just so tired.  Tired of everything."  He slumped down to the floor, leaning against the wall and resting his head on his knees in a semi-fetal position.  

The old man sat down next to him, surprisingly limber for his age.  He put his hand on the young boy's shoulder and sat there, head bowed, as if this action in itself could solve all the world's problems.  "You've had a terrible morning," he said at length.  "You have witnessed a terrible event, waking up to find that it was real.  As it is, I think that you are the only one besides Tem who understands the gravity of this situation; I am sorry that you have to, just as I am sorry that Tem has to.  You performed under great pressure a spell that I have never seen performed with that strength; I believe that it has never been utilized to bring back the dead.  There is no reason that you shouldn't be tired, or frustrated, or angry.  You did what was right, and you are a hero for it.  Even better, you are a true friend."  Dumbledore sighed, stood, and helped Alan up as well.  "Tem must go to the hospital wing now, and you yourself need some rest.  I will excuse you from classes for the rest of the day, and you can go up with him.  But you must let him rest; he must be up and ready to train again as soon as possible.  Only then will this nightmare ever be able to stop."  Alan nodded, and they headed back together to take Tem to the hospital wing.

***********************************************************************************************

         Tem lay in the hospital wing brooding.  He pretended to be asleep for most of the day, ignoring everyone who came to visit, ignoring the fact that nobody noticed that he wasn't even on the sleeping potion.  The dream just kept coming back to him, and as much as he wished he could ignore it, as much as he tried to push the ridiculous thoughts out of his head, Voldemort's words kept coming back to him.  _"__Where are your friends now?  Where is the famous Harry Potter to save you?  If he was such a hero, or even a friend, he wouldn't have let this happen to you.  Don't you find it ironic that you are here, and he is sleeping blissfully unaware, and not caring that anything is happening to you…"  _

         Tem couldn't help it.  He just kept envisioning Harry in his common room by the roaring fire, laughing heartily as he lost at wizarding chess to a certain redheaded witch that he had been sweet on lately.  And there, there were Ron and Hermione, curled up together in the same chair reading out of a book and getting into little loving squabbles as the evening wore on, and none of them, _not one of them_, had any clue about what was going on inside of his head, of the pain and suffering that he was going through.  And none of them cared.  They weren't his friends.  It was Harry's fault that he was in here in the first place.  Harry should be suffering while he played chess; Harry should be the one afraid to sleep at night while he enjoyed the comfort of a bed that far surpassed that of his at home; _Harry_ should be the one fighting for his life while he got his first girlfriend, but no.  No, it wasn't that way.  _It was all Harry's fault…_


	13. Holiday Musings

Tem lay in bed in the hospital wing amidst a mountain of get-well cards and candy, silent and brooding.  He'd been doing that a lot lately.  Ever since "the attack" (as Tem's most recent dream had been deemed), he had felt different.  He refused to see his many visitors, even, and especially Harry.  Because it was all Harry's fault that he had come to this.  He was sure of this now.  The thought had shocked him at first, because he had never borne any ill-will towards anybody before, though in the recent days, he had become very comfortable with the concept.  Harry was the reason for all of Tem's problems.  He had brought the Dark Lord back.  He had slept soundly in his bed while Tem was almost killed.  _He_ basked in the attention and hero-worship of the school while Tem did all of the fighting.  

A fog of anger crept over Tem's brain as he lay incapacitated.  As a boy, Tem could remember rarely being angry.  It just hadn't occurred to him to have emotions such as hate and jealousy.  He would much rather have just observed the reactions of others and written them down.  In his stories, when his characters did have those emotions (which was rare), he wrote them from an outsider's point of view.  He could describe how anger looked—a red face, an enraged expression, the look of steam about to erupt from one's ears (he was very used to seeing Mr. Dursley that way when yelling at the neighbors' dogs)—but could not describe how anger, real, all-consuming, maddening, blinding rage, really felt to a person.  The thought of being angry with somebody scared him.  He didn't want to become like Mr. Dursley.  He didn't like the thought of losing control like that.  

That was before.

Now he was angry, and it was delicious.  Now the ill-will, the pure hatred he felt for Harry and his friends washed over him, seeping into his brain like the most subtle of all poisons, boiling and sizzling on the ends of each and every synapse before creeping through his veins, infecting his heart and the blood that flowed through his entire body.  Every morning that he woke up dazed and groggy from the sleeping potion the night before, he hated Harry Potter more than ever.  Perhaps were Harry not in love, perhaps were he so tortured and miserable as Tem was, he could begin to forgive him, but that was not so.  The hatred washed over Tem and he embraced it freely.  

***********************************************************************************************

            "Tem's been acting strange," Harry commented on the first day of Christmas holiday.  The common room was delightfully empty of prying Gryffindor eyes, but Harry didn't seem able to enjoy the well-deserved privacy.  Ginny turned from her favorite spot on Harry's chest.  She was not at all surprised to see the look on his face; he had clearly been worrying about this for some time now

            "How so?" 

            "I don't know," he sighed, stroking her hair.  "Quiet, I guess.  Distant.  He seems more than a little annoyed with me.  When I visit him, he acts like he wants me to leave, and when I don't, he calls me a bad friend for not being there.  I just can't win."  

            In spite of herself, Ginny giggled.  "What?!" Harry cried, offended.  

            "I'm sorry!  It's just…"  

            "What?!" 

            "He sounds like me when I get angry.  Well, most women do that, actually."  Ginny giggled again.  Harry laughed and tickled her, making her shriek.  "Remind me never to make you angry.  Really, though," he said, turning serious again.  "I think that there is something badly wrong with him and I don't know how to help; he won't let me near him."  

            Ginny sighed and lay her head back down on his chest.  "It'll be OK, Harry.  You'll see.  From what I know of him, Tem is strong, just like you.  He's just going through hard times right now.  How would you like it if Voldemort attacked your dreams every night?."  Harry raised his eyebrows and Ginny's hand flew to her mouth, clearly to prevent her foot from doing the same.  "Oh, Harry!  I'm so sorry!  You know I didn't mean it that way!  I'm such a prat!  I'm sorry," 

            Harry shook his head.  "No.  No, don't be.  You're right.  What I have is nothing compared to what he's going through.  I have memories.  Those are bad enough, but what he experiences is real.  You can't just wake up from something like that.  He almost didn't last time."

            There was an uncomfortable silence before Ginny spoke again.  "Maybe you should go to Dumbledore.  He might know why Tem is acting this way."  

            Harry sighed again.  "I don't know, Gin.  Nothing against Dumbledore, you see, but sometimes I get the feeling that he knows just as little as we do about all of this.  That he's waiting for us to give him the answers.  Or maybe he just likes us to figure things out on our own, like a test.  I think…I don't know what to think.  Everything is so confusing.  No, I think we should talk to Tem's Ravenclaw friends.  You know, Alan and those other two girls.  They see Tem almost every day.  He actually lets them speak to him.  Maybe they have noticed his behavior as well.  Maybe it's all in my head, I don't know.  Maybe they can tell us something."  

            Ginny nodded.  "We'll have to do it as soon as possible.  I hate to see how this is affecting you.  Worse, I hate to think what might be wrong with Tem.  Poor bloke," she sighed.  Harry kissed her head and relaxed back down on the couch.  The whole situation was getting to him.  Sometimes he thought that, had he not found Ginny, he would long ago have gone insane, especially when Ron and Hermione first got together on Hallowe'en night.  While he was lonely, and admittedly a little jealous of their happiness, he had known that it would eventually happen.  Who couldn't see that they were meant for each other after that episode after the Yule Ball?  And after this summer, when Ron had been so worried for Hermione's safety?  Not to mention the whole Krum episode.  They were the only ones blind to the fact that they were madly in love with one another, until they had spent the evening reminiscing over the years past and the troll incident of their first year had come up.  Ron had sat there watching Hermione, remembering with remorse what he had said to send her running to the girls' toilet, while Hermione sat there, eyes glittering as she remembered how Ron had bravely knocked the troll out with its own club.  Mumbled apologies and thanks were made, then a walk ensued, and both came back a bit flushed-looking, though happy.  The rest was history.   Meanwhile, Harry had come to know Ginny a lot better, and soon came to realize that he loved the way she laughed, and her mischievous nature, and the way her eyes flashed and her lips curled and her face flushed when her temper flared.  Then he realized that he loved her eyes and her lips and her face.  And then, one November morning, he realized that he loved her.  

            What followed was two weeks of awkwardness and then a very embarrassing moment after a successful Quidditch match (well, successful for Gryffindor, not for Slytherin) in which, in his excitement, Harry had kissed Ginny in front of the entire school.  Harry blushed just thinking about it.  That, also, was history, though not very ancient.  It was, in fact, almost a month to the day that Harry and Ginny had shared that kiss; regrettably, most of that month had been spent worrying over Tem.  Luckily, Ginny understood.  She'd even tried to get to know the first year better.  Lately, however, Tem had been acting very jealous over their relationship, which Harry resented.  Harry hadn't ignoring Tem, and besides that, he felt that he had earned the happiness that Ginny brought him.  He resolved right then to talk to Tem's friends at lunch that day.  

He didn't want to feel guilty about his relationship with Ginny anymore just because Tem wasn't happy.  He wanted Tem to be happy.  He just had to find a way to break whatever it was that had a hold on him.     ***********************************************************************************************

            Alyssa eyed Alan across her plate.  He had not been looking well, especially for the last day or two.  All three of them had visited Tem day and night—every spare moment, in fact—but Tem was having none of it.  His moods of late had been swinging wildly, though with each passing day, the pendulum seemed to stay at the low point for just a bit longer.  And Harry.  Poor Harry.  Harry kept trying to see Tem, to find out what was wrong because he so badly wanted to help, but Tem wouldn't let him near, and Alan was taking the brunt of it.  Alan stayed late in the hospital wing at night, talking to his friend, trying to make him see sense.  Harry wasn't the enemy.  Harry wasn't the one they were fighting against.  Harry was a friend, a very good friend who would never see any harm come to him without doing all that he could to stop it.  And at the end of the night, Tem would almost seem to come around sometimes, to call Harry in there and tell him that he was sorry for acting like such a prat, but then he would often be too tired and end up going to sleep.  When he woke up, Tem would be in that horrible mood again, shouting at everybody who came near, swearing at those around him, especially Harry.  And then Alan would try again.  

            Sometimes the girls would stay with Tem at night, or bring him some sweets to cheer him up, or a drawing or book.  At first these things had seemed to work a little bit, but recently, the pile of sweets had grown high and untouched, and the stacks of entertaining reading material lay in perfectly mint condition.  

            The changes between Tem's moods were altogether startling.  One would never know that he was the same person.  When he was in a good mood, he was bright-eyed, cheerful and creative.  He wanted to write, he wanted to draw and to talk and laugh.  When he was in a bad mood, there was an almost tangible black cloud around his head.  The only brightness in his eyes was due to the flashing lightning in the stormy sea of his mind.  He didn't talk but to try and curse the people in the room.  The only person he talked to was Alan, and sometimes, Fay.  Very rarely would he talk to Alyssa.  She had never really felt bad about this, other than the fact that she couldn't help like the others could.  She knew that Tem and Fay had a connection somehow, and wasn't jealous about it.  That connection had seemed at its strongest the night that Tem had that fateful dream.  Something had happened, then.  

            Alyssa remembered Fay going to the common room that night; it was her night to make sure that Tem went to sleep.  She had come back sometime later, excited and happy, but Alyssa was too tired to listen to the story until morning.  It was something she had meant to ask about, but with the event of the dream and everything, it had been driven from her mind.  Now she wondered what had happened that night.  Did it have anything to do with Tem's dream?  She doubted it, mostly from the feeling that, if Fay had been that excited and happy, then Tem probably would have been, too.  He had just stayed up too late; that was what Alan had said.  Tem had fallen asleep trying to stay up all night, and it didn't work.  The exhaustion had been too much.  

            No, Alyssa didn't feel bad about being left out.  She liked doing what she could where she could, like getting Muggle fiction books from her parents for Tem to read, or drawing him pictures.  Those were easiest for her; she didn't talk very well, especially when it came to making others feel better.  She usually ended up sticking her foot in her mouth, and making matters worse.  No, it was better that she stayed out of it.

            Besides, she had her own…_connection_ problems to worry about.  She chanced another glace at Alan (he really didn't look good) and quickly looked away when his deep-ringed eyes met hers briefly.  She often wondered how he managed to hold up under the stress.  Tem got time off from school, at least.  He had everyone to pander to him and give him everything at a moment's notice.  Alan, however, usually did the pandering, while keeping up with schoolwork as well.  It was obviously beginning to wear on him.  Maybe the Christmas holiday would do him some good.  *_We could all use a good holiday_, * she thought.  *_From everything_.*   

            That was when Harry sat down next to her.  Alan looked up sharply.  "This is the Ravenclaw table, Potter.  Best look where you're stepping."  If Harry was upset, he didn't show it.  Alyssa couldn't believe her ears, though, and apparently neither could Fay. 

            Harry, however, just nodded curtly.  "Well, I guess it is me then; not Tem.  I'll just be going."  He made to leave when Alan stopped him.  

            "No, no.  I'm sorry.  Please, stay.  I've just been spending way too much time around Tem lately.  I'm afraid that he's wearing off on me, not the other way around like I had hoped.  You're right, though; there's something going on.  We just don't know what to do about it," he sighed.  "Believe me.  We've tried."  

            Harry looked steadily between the three friends; though his face was impassive, his bearing was stiff, as if deciding whether to stay or bolt.  He looked as if he wanted to do both.  Finally, seemed to come to a conclusion.

            "I can tell," Harry agreed, visibly relaxing in his chair.  "You look awful.  I came over here to ask you if you noticed anything, but apparently you have.  What _is_ wrong?  Why won't he let me near him?  Did I do something that I'm not aware of?"  

            Alan shook his head.  "I have no idea what it could be.  As far as I can tell, he's just mad that he's suffering and you aren't.  I think that he thinks you should be the hero while he sits back comfortably.  I think it's more than that, though.  It's like he's…possessed.  Or something, I don't know."  

            Harry stiffened; his face contorted in intense concentration for several minutes.  "That's it!" he cried, finally.  The others looked at him like he'd just announced his engagement to Snape.  "Think about it—how does he act at night, as opposed to in the morning?"

            "Well," Fay began apprehensively, "At night, we can usually almost talk to him as normal.  In fact, he's almost gone down to apologize to you a couple of times." 

            "And then?" 

            "And then," Fay went on, "In the morning, he's out for blood again.  He's a completely different person.  Though at night lately, he's been more apt to go for blood than to apologise."  She looked remorsefully at Harry, as if she thought this news might be damaging to him, however, he seemed not to notice.  He was in a frenzied excitement, having leapt from his chair and was now pacing back and forth in front of them, just as Professor Flitwick often did when he was on a roll.

            "As I thought he might.  Now, what happens between night and morning?  What could possibly change so much in that time period?"  Alyssa's eyes went wide and round; she'd finally understood.

            "The potion!  He takes the potion at night to protect against You-Know-Who!  He hates it!"  Harry nodded excitedly.  

            "And what happens if you use a medicine or something like that too much?" he asked.

            Alan gasped, fully understanding as well.  "He becomes immune to it!  But that…that would mean…"

            "That would mean that You-Know-Who is still getting into Tem's head every night.  That would mean that Tem is working under his power.  Oh, God," Fay whispered, looking fearfully into Harry's eyes.  "What are we going to do?"

            "Right," Harry whispered, sinking into his chair again.  "I have no idea.  I really need to leave this thinking stuff to Hermione.  She's really much better at it."

            "I think we should go to Madam Pomfrey," Alan suggested.  "She should know about this.  She should know that the potion would start to wear off.  That Voldemort," Alan gritted his teeth against the name, "would get through eventually.  We have to tell her first, then maybe she can help us."  


End file.
